Bond of Steel
by Odama Rasendori
Summary: Naruto and Sakura are finally together and are having the time of their lives, but after an unforeseen change of events, it all falls apart. Can they reform, or is it too late? NarSak eventually. UPDATED!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Naruto and Sakura finally get together but Sasuke realizes his feelings for the pink kunoichi. Will Sakura stay with Naruto, or will she choose Sasuke? SasuXSakuXNaru. Plz R&R

_**xxxxx MAJOR SIDE NOTE xxxxx**_

**In this story, Sasuke DID NOT and I mean DID NOT leave to go to Orochimaru for power. Let's just say that he never got the cursed mark seal during the chuunin exams, and that Orochimaru found a new pupil and went on his marry way to dreamland or wherever he lives. Not sure Orochimaru will be in this story anyway.**

* * *

Chapter 1

* * *

Naruto's POV 

_Beep, beep, beep smack. _The beeping noise stopped.

"Time to get up, Naruto," I say to myself as my still half asleep body begins to move on its own. I fix my bed to make it all tidy and neat, then I take off my favorite and only sleeping cap, only to place it on the pillow that I owned since the day I started living here. With my eyes still closed, I walk over to my kitchen, pull out a cup of instant ramen from the cupboard, put water into it and placed it into the microwave. I pressed the button that had a "3" on it and watched my breakfast cook. I admit to myself, I could cook something but what else is there to cook when I could not shop for anything. I have money from missions but no one will sell me anything. The only one that would allow me to buy something from their shop is old man Teuchi Ichiraku. I look away from my breakfast and walk over to the bathroom to take a shower. If you haven't already guessed it, this is my life, my daily routine...

As I step out of the shower, I hear one of my windows breaking as well as a fairly loud thud crash on my wall. I look over to see what it was. On my first time seeing it, I was scared stiff, as if someone was trying to tell me something that I could not grasp or understand. This time around, it wasn't too surprising. I pick up the brick that had the word "DEMON' engraved on it and gently placed it on a familiar corner with all of the other bricks I have received on this day. As I got dressed, my eyes wander off to my calendar, hanging on the wall. I smile to myself, I had almost forgotten this day. That was why the brick came today, of course it had all made sense to me... again...

"Happy birthday, Naruto Uzumaki," I say to myself as I walk over to my kitchen, pull out my ramen from the microwave, grab a pair of chopsticks, and start eating. Today was my fourteenth birthday, the day I of my second year as a teenager. But who cares anyway? For the past fourteen years, the only presents I have ever gotten are bricks with "DEMON" or "DIE" engraved on them. Just then, a thought jumps into my head. Now I had six bricks with "DIE" on them, and seven bricks with "DEMON" on them. I sighed to myself. How I hated uneven numbers...

As I finish the last of my noodles, I throw away the foam cup in the trash can and gently wash the chopsticks on the sink. These plastic (not wooden, like usual ones) chopsticks were my prized possessions. I have eaten my instant ramen, even the ones at Ichiraku's, with this pair of chopsticks. After washing my treasure gently, I place it back on my cupboard, where I found it. I look over to my broken window and make the handseals for my kage bunshin no jutsu. When the clones appeared, I instructed for them to clean up the mess and fix the window with whatever supplies they could find in this place I called my home. Once the clones started what I have instructed them, I grab my keys, open the door, closed it, and locked it. As I walk over to team seven's training ground, I notice that there were not many people outside yet. Of course this was so. If I had to guess, it would be around 6:30 am. Most people, except for the ones that gave me my birthday present, were still asleep, in the house provided for them by their families. I look up at the sky as I remember that one word I had just said. Family... I think to myself. What does it mean, to have a family? I know the answer in my mind but my heart does not. I know what a family is but have never truly experienced having one. Sure I have friends that I care for as a family, if only they cared for me as I do for them.

When I arrived at team seven's training ground, I see the ever so antisocial boy I have thought of as my friend. His eyes were closed as he leaned on his favorite wooden fence. My eyes averted then, to my pink headed crush. She was smiling again today, like every other morning. Throughout my years of being alive, I have always wondered why I had higher human senses than that of other people. Still being meters away from them, my ears listen to what I don't want to hear. I already know what will be said.

She flirts with him saying...

"Sasuke-kun, you look lovely today."

He replies with his usual...

"Hn..."

She continues with the one-sided conversation with...

"After training, would you like to do something with me?"

This time he answers coldly, saying...

"No..."

She asks him the two word question...

"Why not?"

With the phrase he has used since all of this started, he said...

"Because I have better things to do."

Now, it was my turn to appear into the scene...

"Good morning Sakura-chan, and Sasuke-teme," I say, obviously hiding my sarcasm.

"Naruto..." Sakura-chan says to me with the usual spite in her voice.

"Dobe..." Sasuke-teme says to me with the usual boredom in his voice.

"Sakura-chan, today is my--" I was cut off.

"I don't care," she said emontionlessly.

"I was wondering if you would--" again I was cut off.

"I don't feel like it," she said, already knowing what I was going to say. I turn over to my raven haired rival. This would be long shot and I knew he would not accept my invitation but it didn't hurt to try, did it?

"Sasuke, since today is my--" I was getting annoyed at always getting cut off.

"I don't know what it is but I don't care either dobe," he turned to me. "And whatever it is you will ask me, my answer is no."

I look down on the ground with my eyes closed.

Day after day, it was always like this. No one, except for those hateful villagers ever remembers my birthday. For the thousandth time in my life, I began to wonder who my real friends were. If my friends were these people, why could they not at least greet me happy birthday? I wouldn't mind a birthday present but I guess that would be asking for too much wasn't it? I wouldn't mind a smile from at least one of them, showing that they remembered this day, but that would be going too far as well, wouldn't it? Lastly, I wouldn't mind hearing them say "good morning Naruto" but that too would be going passed the line, right? Before I could think anymore, my white haired sensei puffs into existence. Sakura points at him and yells her usual "you're late!" sentence. Noticing something wrong, they all stare at me, as I found myself staring at the floor. When I felt that all eyes were on me, I look up at them all. Oh yeah, I was supposed to say "you're late!" with Sakura-chan, wasn't I?

"Huh? Oh, um, you're late, sensei," I say flatly, as if I've said it a hundred times. They all looked at me with worry, hell, even teme was looking at me with an eyebrow raised. Today was becoming quite and odd day. I had actually received attention from the ones that I had wished would give me some sort of attention, even if it wasn't in the form of how I always imagined it.

"Are you feeling alright, Naruto?" sensei asked me. I looked at him strangely. Was that a feeling of care I heard in his voice? This was an odd birthday indeed, since when had I gotten something like this from him?

"I'm alright, Kakashi-sensei," I say to him, this time without the usual happiness in my voice.

"Uh...huh..." sensei let out, obviously not buying my answer.

"Well, today we will be doing some heavier training than usual," said Kakashi-sensei. "I will not be here tomorrow or for the next few days because of a mission, that's why we will all need to work hard today."

We all nodded.

"Sakura, you will run thirty laps around this training field. When you finish that, go ahead and do fifty push ups, fifty sit ups, and fifty squats. After that, go ahead and mold some chakra while meditating. This is to raise your stamina and overall chakra capacity," he said as Sakura walked off to start on her training. "Sasuke, you will spar with me. Afterwards, I will teach you a new jutsu."

Before he turned to leave, I called out to them.

"What about me, Kakashi-sensei? What will you have me do?" I asked him, although already knowing fairly well what he would say. Kakashi placed a finger on his chin, as if pondering what to say. To tell the truth, he had actually forgotten about his blond pupil.

"Just do whatever it was that I always assign you to do," he said as he disappeared with Sasuke.

I sigh to myself once more. What was I thinking, hoping that today would be any different than any other day? It was always like this. He tells Sakura to do some physical exercises and goes away to spar with Sasuke or to teach him a new move, and leaves me to bite the dust. He told me to do whatever it was that he always told me to do for training, but in all honesty, he never once instructed me, personally, to do any form of training. I would always have to do my own training. Picking up my feet, I wonder if any of them would even realize that I was gone. Having already proven my theory ages ago, I trudged out of the training grounds, knowing full well that I would not be noticed... just like every other day... little did I know, I had a pair of green eyes watching me.

As I continued my way towards my apartment, I see and hear people talking about me, whispering to other people a whole bunch of nonsense crap. This was nothing new. After the usual gossip about me, they would usually-- smack, there it was. One of the villagers threw a rock, the size of an adult man's fist, at my head. Rubbing the sore spot where blood trailed down my face, I look at my hand, covered in my own blood. Funny, I think to myself, somehow that felt softer than all of the others. Either that or it was just because I had gotten used to this kind of treatment, that I was just a stain in their clothes, a parasite in their system, the demon boy that didn't deserve to live. If it were up to me, I would have ended my sorry life years ago, but somehow, I feel the need to help and protect these people that threw rocks at me. This was the kind of attention that I didn't want but always received. Last year, I wished for more attention as a birthday wish. This year, it came true.

After a few more rocks to my face and to several parts of my body, I arrive home. I enter my apartment and close the door behind me. I begin to feel the wounds on my head and everywhere else begin to close up. Sometimes I just wish that the tenant inside me would just stop healing me and let me bleed to death. But I knew that, that would not be the case. Kyuubi had a strong will to survive. If I died, he died, and I suppose that one as great as him would be ashamed to die if someone as weak as me died and pulled him to the depths of hell with me. Had Kyuubi ever wondered that it was me that was feeling all of this pain, and not him? I shake my head, of course not. Kyuubi doesn't care about me. He only heals my wounds so that I don't die, letting him live for another day. Looking at the clock that hung on my wall, I nod at the fact that it showed "8:30am". Wow, time flew by pretty quickly. With nothing else to do for the day, I walk over to my bed and collapse, letting sleep take over my battered form.

A few hours later, I woke up for no particular reason. My abnormally heightened sense of smell pick up the aroma of food. I follow my nose and see a few bags of food next to my doorstep. I smile at myself. It must have been Iruka-sensei delivering the batch of food for the month. Every month, Iruka-sensei would bring me some food, with the money that came from his own wallet. He was one of the few people that actually cared about me. I rise from my bed and pull out the contents from the bag. They were uncooked and fresh. This was understandable since Iruka-sensei was always very busy and probably did not have the time to cook the food. I shrug to no one in particular and start to cook a meal for myself as I thought about today's events. My thoughts land on my crush, Sakura-chan. I have always told myself that one day, she and I will be together, with a family that I always wanted. But for a while now, her only interest was Sasuke. I told myself one time that my happiness did not matter, as long as she was happy. As I thought about today's events, I realize that she will only be truly happy if I am not constantly trying to ask her out on a date.

Come to think of it, when was the last time I had asked her out on a successful date? Oh right, that time was non existent. Sakura, just like all of my peers, never did acknowledge my existence. Even though I always put my life on the line for them, they never really did do anything for me. If I were given an essay on my peers, I could finish it in any reasonable amount of time. I knew many things about them, like how Sakura loved the color red, Sasuke hated just about everyone, Shikamaru loved staring at clouds, Choji's dreams of owning his own potato chip factory, Ino's vast knowledge of all types of flowers, Kiba's ability to talk to dogs, Shino's love for all types of insects, Hinata's stuttering ways, Neji's hate for the main branch of his family, Lee's love for super spicy curry, and Tenten's mastery of a variety of weaponry. I know a bit of something from all of them yet I know that none of them even knew my favorite color, or my favorite animal. Sure they probably knew the general stuff about me such as my love for ramen and my dreams of becoming Hokage one day, but what do they really know about me? What did they know about the real me?

Sakura, the one I loved the most probably doesn't even know much about me. I sighed to himself once again for the umpteenth time today. Sakura doesn't like me, and probably never would. Maybe it was time to stop living in a fantasy and face reality. My dreams of starting a family with her would never come true. Maybe it is time to let go of my obsession with her and move on with my life. Too much was already used up for something that I know would never come to pass. Too many times had I risked my neck and met near death experiences for the girl with the pink hair. For the first time in my life, I'm tired, I just want to rest.

End of Naruto's POV

Naruto was about to toss in more ingredients inside the pot when he heard a knock on his door. Naruto lowered the fire and walked over to his door. The blond opened the door to reveal...

"Sakura-chan," he said as he greeted her. "What are you doing here?"

"After training, I asked if Sasuke wanted to do something but he refused," she said. "I was about to go home but found myself on your doorstep and wondered if you would like some company."

Naruto looked at her strangely.

"This is new..." Sakura focused her eyes on him. "You never did something like this before... but in any case, I would love some company."

Sakura nodded and entered Naruto's apartment. For someone who she thought was the dead last of the group, a failure, and not very good looking, Naruto's apartment was very clean. Naruto walked back to the kitchen to continue his cooking. Sakura was in his apartment on the day that he told himself to let her go. Naruto nodded to himself. Letting her go was definitely a hard thing to do, but the only thing that was even harder than that was, just being her friend. Naruto turned over to his visitor and found that she was looking around at some random parts of his apartment.

"Sakura-san," he said with a different honoriffic. "You can just sit on that chair while I fix us up something to munch on."

When Sakura didn't hear the _chan_ at the end of her name, she knew that something indeed was going on. Shoving the thought to a deeper part of her mind, Sakura sat down on the chair that she was instructed to sit on. Looking up at Naruto, she decided to start up a conversation.

"That smells really good, Naruto. Since when did you know how to cook?" she asked.

"Well, I've been living by myself throughout my whole life. Since I have no one to take care of me, I learned that if I was going to survive, I would have to feed myself," he said to her. "I guess you can say, I learned when I was around five or so years old."

"What are you cooking?"

"Not sure, but it smells good," he said as he sniffed the contents. Sakura sighed. What was she thinking coming over here? Waiting at her house was some really good food that her parents fixed up. Now she was at this guy's apartment, about to eat something the even he did not know was.

"If you don't know what it is, why are you going to bother to eat it?" she asked. "You sure it doesn't have poison or something?"

That hurt the blond boy a lot, but somehow he couldn't find himself to care anymore. He was used to this kind of underestimation. Now that he had let go of his feelings for Sakura, what she said before didn't really matter to him as much as it should have.

"Well, if it does have poison, I would be the first to die," he said. Sakura just stared at him. "As my guest, I couldn't possibly let you eat poisoned food right?" Just then, he felt the urge to use the restroom. "Sakura-san, if you don't mind waiting a bit longer, I have to use the restroom."

Naruto lowered the fire once more as he headed to the restroom. Sakura, having nothing else to do, stood up and walked to the pot of cooking food. For something that was probably rotten, it smelled quite good. Without even thinking, Sakura grabbed the serving spoon, and scooped up some of its contents, and put it into her mouth. Sakura's eyes widened. She felt like she had just died and gone to heaven. The pink haired girl looked at the pot below her. This was the most delicious food she had ever tasted in her entire life. Suddenly she felt kind of bad that she insulted Naruto's cooking without even tasting it. She assumed that for someone like him, his cooking would be the same. But it was not. If his cooking was this good, just how good of a person could he really have been? Upon hearing footsteps, Sakura placed the serving spoon back where she found it and quickly returned to her seat. Naruto returned to his original spot and noticed the serving spoon fairly clean. Naruto figured that Sakura must have tasted some of his cooking. He lied earlier. He was actually cooking some curry, just not the spicy kind that Lee seemed so fond of.

After a few more minutes, Naruto finished his cooking and grabbed two plates. He put some rice and curry into the plates and also grabbed a pair of wooden chopsticks, and his very own plastic chopsticks. He brought the food to the table and passed a plate to Sakura. Naruto sat on the seat across her. The blond whispered a silent "itadakimatsu" before he started eating his food. Sakura did the same and started on her meal. Every now and then, Sakura would take a glance at her host. He wasn't eating like a pig, such as what she was used to when eating around him. He was eating rather well, he actually ate with manners that would fit a prince. Sakura ate her food silently while thinking of the blond in front of her. This whole day, Naruto was acting rather odd. Her first clue was when he did not join her in saying that their sensei was late. The second one came right after when he actually skipped out on training. Since when did Naruto skip training? That was pretty much what he did for fun. Sakura raised her eyebrow. There was something wrong with Naruto today...

Naruto looked up at his guest and saw her making faces. Naruto glanced at his food. It wasn't that bad right? He knew that he had no culinary skills like a master chef but his cooking couldn't be that bad right? The ocean eyed shinobi looked across him, to the eyes of the somewhat troubled Sakura.

"Sakura-san, is there something wrong? That food isn't poisonous, is it?" he asked with concern.

Sakura shook her head.

"No, no, the food is great," she said, glancing at him, then back down. "It's just that, you were acting rather odd today, Naruto."

Naruto took a deep breath. He knew that someone would notice eventually, but knowing his peers, he didn't know anyone actually cared. Naruto fixed his eyes on hers.

"I'm not acting odd," he started. "I just, I mean, I've been thinking lately..."

"Huh, Naruto?"

"I used to have this one dream, a dream more important than becoming Hokage and being noticed by everyone. That dream is to have a family," he said. Sakura found this interesting and allowed him to continue. Naruto scoffed. "But who am I fooling? No one in this village even likes me past the level of 'acquaintance'. I risk my neck for everyone, expecting nothing in return but lately, I've been thinking... who's risking their neck for me?"

"Naruto..." was all she could say, he was right after all.

"That isn't even the worst part. There's this person that I really admire and would gladly take a kunai to the head for. The problem is, this person does not even acknowledge my feelings. It's like having feelings for someone that doesn't even think you're human. Then again, this person has feelings for someone else. He does not like her but she likes him. I like her but she doesn't like me. So, the question is, who is behind me? Who likes me that I don't like?"

"It was only today that I realized the answer for that question. The answer is that, no one is waiting there for me. I used to think that, that was alright, that I would just embrace everyone even if they don't like me. But, not even metal is unbreakable. Like metal, I can rust too, there's only so much that I can take before I snap and just forget about the whole thing. I'm not invincible like you all think I am," said Naruto, standing up from his chair. "I'm human like everyone else. And just like any other human, I have feelings too. It's just that, no one acknowledges them, no one cares. Everyone expects me to be this indomitable pillar of strength, but I'm not." Naruto sat down.

"I guess what I'm saying is, I'm tired of always faking everything. I want to show who I really am but no one will accept me. I always tell everyone that I am strong and that I don't need to be saved, but any reasonable person would know that everyone needs to be saved some time or another. When someone is in trouble, I'll always be there to help, but when I'm in trouble, who's going to pick me up? Who's going to help me?"

Suddenly, Sakura had just lost her appetite. Naruto was right in all aspects. There have been many times when she was in danger, and he was always there to save her from certain doom, and how many times had she done the same? Sakura put her chopsticks down. This was a part of Naruto that she never knew existed. Like what he said, she thought he was an indomitable pillar of strength, someone that didn't need help, someone who was so strong and could get over anything. Maybe she never noticed that because she always fawned over Sasuke, talked with Ino, and did everything Kakashi-sensei told her to do. She never acknowledged that Naruto was breaking, that he needed a sign of attention, that someone actually cared for him. In all the time that she invested failed attempts to be with Sasuke, she could have spent with Naruto, to make his life more bearable that it was currently. Before she could think about it anymore, Naruto stood up.

"I need some air. You can stay as long as you like, but don't forget to lock up before you go," he said as he placed his keys on the table. Naruto put his unfinished food in the microwave, noting to eat it later after he returned. Naruto walked over to his door and opened it. "See you later, Sakura-san." he said as he left his guest to ponder on everything that he just said.

* * *

**A/N: So, what do you guys think? I tried to write it as sad as I could but if it wasn't sad enough, well it just proves I'm not that type of person. I was pretty upset when I was writing this chapter and I had thoughts of what Naruto was thinking and saying. In most aspects, I am like Naruto (save the being a shinobi and being a Jinchuuriki part). Anyways, I'm going to make this one a NaruxSaku. **

**By the way, if any of you has read (pronounced as "red") my first story, "Divine Spirit", it is currently on hold. I will continue it but for now, I am still gathering ideas. I would announce it as 'currently on hold' but there isn't enough space in the summary box for me to put it there.**

**Anyways, this time, I'm not looking for as many reviews as possible, I'm not that greedy anyway. I'm just looking for as many hits as I can for this story. But if you will find it in yourselves to review, that will be greatly appreciated.**

**...Sharinyakugan...**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hmm, I've just noticed that I didn't put a disclaimer for the previous chapter. Being too lazy to delete it, I'll just post the disclaimer for this chapter and it will just count for the previous chapter, hopefully so I don't get sued or anything.**_

_**Chapter 2**_

_**Disclaimer: Me not owns Naruto!**_

* * *

Sakura walked on the path to her home. Having left Naruto's home several minutes after he himself left, she pondered on about what he had told her. She knew of his life, how he has no family, his foul treatment by the village, and his poverty. Her blond team mate did not have much possessions in life, that was why he was looking for people to help ease his pain. For a long time, ever he had saved her from Gaara and the Shukaku's wrath, she had never once spoken to him any words of thanks or appreciation. Sakura felt like the lowest scumbag on the earth for treating Naruto the way she had been doing ever since she knew him. Having no room in heart for anyone but Sasuke, she never once thought about Naruto's feelings or how he had a crush on her for years. She even remembered many times when Naruto tried to ask her out. He was always kind and caring, and never gave up after a simple decline or a smack in the face from her. Her blond teammate possessed the qualities that she never found in Sasuke. Now that she was on the topic, why did she care about Sasuke anyway? 

"Oh right," Sakura said to herself. "I wanted to fit in with the other girls who liked him."

"So what is the real reason for my affections for Sasuke?" she asked herself silently so that the people around her wouldn't think she was weird by talking to herself.

**_"Other than fitting in with the other girls, there's no authentic reason... you don't even like him," Inner Sakura noted._**

"How could I have fooled myself this long?" said Sakura, coming into a sudden realization.

**_"It's like that old saying," Inner Sakura replied. "You tell yourself a lie too many times and you'll think it's the truth later on."_**

Sakura nodded to what her inner self said.

"Maybe I should talk to Naruto, like a real person this time..."

_**"I don't know... what if it's too late?" Inner Sakura said with worry. "I mean, just today, he stopped calling us 'Sakura-chan' right?"**_

"I don't care," Sakura said with silent determination. "I don't care if he doesn't call me with that stupid honorrific. I just want him to know the real me, the real Sakura."

_**"Good luck girl, you'll need it."**_

Sakura smiled and started running to Naruto's favorite hang out spots.

* * *

"Eight splashes, not bad, Naruto," said a very lazy pineapple head. 

After walking for aimless minutes, Naruto arrived at the familiar lake that he, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba, used to play in when they were still at the academy. The lake, despite all the rocks they threw at it, was still very clean, and was glittering with the beauty it always had. Shikamaru found his blond friend throwing rocks and decided to ask him what was going on. Shikamaru knew Naruto almost as much as he knew Chouji, and when Naruto was throwing rocks aimlessly, there must have been something wrong. Shikamaru tried to talk to his friend for a while but it was as if his soul was in some other world while his body was down at earth, acting like a dummy to those who saw him.

"Naruto, seriously, what's bothering you?" Shikamaru asked. Naruto stopped throwing rocks and slowly turned to see his friend. Shikamaru was shocked, to say the least. The blond's eyes did not shine with their usual blue. It was like blue infused with gray. But the odd part was, he wasn't frowning, or emotionless... he was slightly smiling.

"Naruto, you can cut the act now," said the pineapple headed boy. "You don't have to keep your mask up around me, I know you."

Naruto scoffed, his smile vanishing from his lips. Naruto turned around and glanced at the lake.

"I always thought that my mask was indestructible, you know?" he said.

"Nothing is indestructible, you idiot," said Shikamaru as he leaned on a nearby tree.

"I know, but in order to keep everyone else away, I had to keep hardening my mask."

"Naruto..." Shikamaru trailed off.

"I should have known that sometime or another, my mask would reach the limits of its strength," Naruto closed his eyes and smiled slightly. "I believe that time to be, now."

"Is it Sakura again?" Shikamaru asked randomly.

Naruto shrugged. "Not really, it's mostly my entire team. But I suppose I am partly to blame because, well, why would they want to associate with a freak of nature, like me?"

"Naruto, you're not a freak of nature of any sort at all, and don't tell yourself otherwise," said Shikamaru with emotion. "You're more than what you give yourself credit for."

"Maybe, but, it always seems that all troubles start with me," he said as he turned back to the lake.

"Hey, Naruto," Shikamaru called out and walked over to him. Naruto opened his eyes and turned to his lazy friend. "Before you go on with your endless sulking, I have a present for you."

Shikamaru took a rectangular shaped object, that was wrapped up in neat wrapping paper, from his pocket and gave it to Naruto. Naruto took it and opened it. The blond's smile widened a bit. There was a card that stated, 'From Kiba, Chouji, and Shikamaru... To Naruto...'

"I hope it's a reasonable present, considering your fourteenth birthday," he said as he looked at Naruto's face. Shikamaru, although never showed it, loved it when his friends were happy. "It's sort of like a gift card. It was mainly from the Akimichis' but Kiba and I chipped in a bit, so you have Chouji to thank for most of it. You can use it in any restaurant in Konoha, and get free meals for a month."

With speeds that would have shocked Mite Guy himself, Naruto jumped at Shikamaru and gave him one of the biggest hugs he had to offer. Shikamaru staggered a bit but was able to stay standing with some difficulty. Well this was something knew, Naruto never showed this kind of emotion. In the years that the lazy genius knew the blond, he never showed this side of him. Naruto always showed his tough side so no one worried about him, all the while, he was shattering ever so slowly inside. As much as Shikamaru wanted to pry Naruto from his skin, he secretly loved seeing his friend like this. This was not something that you got to see everyday. Naruto, showing this much emotion was definitely reserved for his birthday and his birthday alone. After another few minutes, Naruto broke off from his huge embrace. Shikamaru glanced at Naruto, his eyes had returned to their shining blue color. This was the Naruto that he became friends with and wished that his eyes would stay this way. It showed a rare form of happiness, not just a small amount of joy or anything, but genuine happiness.

"You don't know how much this means to me, Shikamaru," said Naruto as he took one last look at the card in his hand before putting it away in his pocket.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head.

"Don't be getting all cheesy on me, besides, it's Chouji and his family that you really need to thank," Naruto nodded. Just then an idea popped into his mind.

"And I think I know how to thank him, as well as Kiba and everyone else," he said with a big grin.

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow.

"A yen (or whatever Japanese currency is) for your thoughts?"

"I'm thinking of treating Konoha twelve (rookie nine + Guy's team) to a restaurant this weekend," he said with a grin.

"Baka, we're supposed to be treating you for your birthday," said Shikamaru in an annoyed voice.

"I know it's my birthday, you lazy pineapple head, but for my birthday wish, I would like to make all of my friends happy," he said happily.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and put his hands down his pockets, and scoffed.

"Naruto no baka, you'll never change will you? You care more for your friends than you do yourself," he said. Naruto was about to say something but he was cut off. "But you know, You're unique like that. I'll inform everyone of your plans."

"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed with joy. "Tell everyone that it's going to be on Friday of this week and the location will be at the 'Allucaneet' restaurant ."

Shikamaru gawked at him.

"Are you serious? That's like, the Akimichi's best restaurant!"

"I know, but my friends deserve the best, right?"

Shikamaru looked up at the clouds and sighed. "Today is Tuesday, right?"

"Yosh!"

Shikamaru nodded and started walking away, leaving Naruto there to do whatever he wanted to do. With his heightened hearing abilities, Naruto heard something very faint that he was not supposed to. These four words, especially coming from one of his best friends, meant a lot to him.

"Naruto, don't ever change."

* * *

Sakura was huffing and puffing. She had no idea that it was this hard to find Naruto. Since there were not many blonds on Konoha, it shouldn't be this hard to spot him, especially since he was the one that wore a color that stood out the most. She checked all of his favorite spots and he wasn't there. She even checked at his favorite ramen stand and he wasn't there either. The pink haired kunoichi looked down at herself. She knew she was partly to blame for all of this. How could she not have seen how sincere Naruto had always been to her? Was it her fake feelings for the Sharingan heir that clouded her true feelings for the one that was always there for her? Perhaps, but maybe it was time that she took responsibility of her surroundings and stop blaming anything on others, especially the times when she blamed Naruto for just being around. Now, after giving some thought into what he had said earlier, Sakura began thinking differently of Naruto. It was like he was this totally different person, not the loud and goofy boy that she had grown up with, but a matured person who experienced unimaginable pain that should be unknown to a boy of his age. If she ever found Naruto, she would tell him how sorry she was for everything. Before she was able to move again, the sight of Shikamaru walking over to her, caught her attention. 

"Sakura-san, do you have a minute?" Sakura nodded and walked over to him.

"Naruto is planning for a birthday celebration on Friday at the Allucaneet restaurant," said Shikamaru, in his ever so lazy speaking voice.

"I see, but why are you telling me this?" she asked.

Shikamaru scratched the back of his head and closed his eyes.

"Ugh, you're almost as clueless as he is sometimes," he said, receiving a glare from the girl in front of him. "I'm telling you this because he is inviting all of the Konoha twelve."

Sakura slowly nodded.

"Do you know where I can find him?" Shikamaru nodded.

"You can find him at the lake, south of here, I was just with him," he said as he started to walk away. "He's probably still there if you--" he was cut off as Sakura ran towards that direction.

"That girl, so troublesome," Shikamaru scoffed as he walked over to Chouji's house. "Reminds me of you... Naruto."

Sakura ran to the direction that Shikamaru pointed in hopes of finding Naruto. She so badly wanted to see him and tell him that she was sorry for everything. She didn't want to go to Naruto's birthday party all gloomy and depressed because he stopped including the honorrific at the end of her name. She wanted to tell him how she truly felt about him. Having realized earlier that her feelings for Sasuke were a fake, Naruto's image constantly hovered around her mind. He was always there for her, he saved her neck during missions, he would take a shuriken or kunai for her if necessary, but now, it didn't seem so possible anymore. She had almost lost hope until Shikamaru showed her the way. Upon hearing that, new hope was re-ignited inside her. Even though he no longer had any interest in her, which hurt her deeply as she now found interest in him, she still had to try to make him forgive her.

'Either way, I've still got to try!' she thought to herself as she continued sprinting.

After several minutes, she arrived at the lake that Shikamaru talked about and saw Naruto sitting on a fairly large boulder. Silently walking to his direction, she pondered how she would be able to do this. It was much more difficult than she thought it would be. She always imagined herself doing this only to Sasuke but his training was far too important for anything else. Before she got close to him, Naruto spoke up.

"You're slipping as a kunoichi, Sakura-san," he said as he jumped off of the boulder and turned to face her.

"Um... hey, Naruto," she greeted.

"Hello, Sakura-san," he greeted as well. Sakura slightly flinched. She was going to have to get used to the _chan _being replaced with _san_. Sakura approached him so that she was within speaking distance from him. Naruto picked up a pebble and threw it in the lake, as if motioning to Sakura that he was ready to listen.

"Listen, Naruto," she began. "I thought about what you said earlier, and I'm really sorry about how I've been treating you."

"It's all good," he said, picking up another pebble. "I have already forgiven you."

"No!" she exclaimed. "How can you forgive me so easily? I've made your life more unbearable than it already is! How is it that you don't hold a grudge on me? What makes me so different from others?"

Naruto threw the pebble and then turned to her.

"Well, to answer all of that in order; I can forgive you easily because I choose to, you have made my life unbearable but you have also provided me a challenge, I mean I don't want to be able to get you right off the bat, that wouldn't be very fun, now would it?" He said said as he took a breath. "I don't hold a grudge on you because it's not in me to do that kind of thing. You're different from everyone else because you have chosen to ask for forgiveness when none of the other villagers have."

"In that case, can you please call me Sakura-chan again?" she asked hopefully.

Naruto closed his eyes and shook his head. He opened his eyes a second later and glanced at hers.

"I realize now that the term _chan_ is reserved for a person that has affections for another. Sasuke doesn't know it yet but he probably has affections for you, he is just too blinded with revenge to see it. He may refer to you with _chan _but I cannot. Although I have, or had," this struck Sakura to the core, "affections for you, you only feel the same way for Sasuke. Therefore, I have chosen to refer to you with _san. _Your friendship means more to me than you know, and I will no longer take the chances of breaking that friendship by fruitlessly asking you out on dates."

"Naruto, you don't understand!" she shouted a bit louder than expected. "I realized earlier that my feelings for Sasuke is non-existent. He has never been to me the way that you have. You've been more of a friend to me than anyone else has, even Ino, and she's my best friend!"

Naruto could only watch as his teammate continued to break down.

"I only had feelings for Sasuke because I wanted to fit in with the other girls who liked him. I realize now that they were clouding my judgment from the genuine truth," she said as tears began flowing from her eyes. "Naruto, I've never been more sure of anything in my life. You're the one that I have feelings for."

Naruto, being the gentleman that he was, ran to Sakura to help her during her trauma.

"I don't know what to do anymore Naruto," she said to him. "It seems ironic, you know? Now that I realize my feelings for you, you no longer feel the same."

Naruto smiled at her. Not with his goofy smile but a smile that seemed to pierce right through her problems.

"I wouldn't give it up just yet, Sakura-s-- ehm, chan," he said. Sakura brightened up at this. "As I said before, I don't hold grudges like some other people. I know you're sorry, and I am too for giving up too soon." Naruto was rewarded with a smack on the head.

"Baka, I'm the one that should be apologizing," she giggled as Naruto helped her stand up. "By the way, I have surprise for you, but you have to close your eyes."

Naruto made a face but did as he was told. Right when he closed his eyes, he felt soft and warm lips meet his own. Knowing already what had happened, he responded to it and wrapped his arms around her waist, his eyes still closed. Sakura embraced his neck around her arms and deepened the kiss. This was her first kiss with the blond and she was now hoping that it wasn't going to be the last. Naruto may not have known it but he was an extremely good kisser. He tasted her lips with his tongue, begging for the entrance that she so gladly gave to him. The insides of her mouth was heavenly. At first, the thought of his saliva mixing with her own seemed gross, but now he regretted ever even having that feeling. This feeling, this kiss, was all that he ever dreamed of. Naruto cleaned her teeth with his tongue and took note that it tasted like sausage and eggs. Sakura did the same and was not surprised that his teeth and tongue tasted like ramen, miso ramen to be exact. Their warm tongues battled for dominance over the other. Neither wanted the moment to end but oxygen was running short on their lungs. Oddly enough, it was neither Naruto nor Sakura that broke the kiss, but they did it at the same time. Panting heavily, cerulean eyes met emerald eyes.

"That was... amazing..." said Naruto, obviously wanting more.

"Yeah... it was..." she said as she moved her face closer to his.

"Oh and, before I forget, happy birthday, Naruto-kun," she said. Naruto grinned at her and claimed her lips once more. Little did the new couple know, behind some bushes, a pair of red sharingan eyes were watching them. The owner of those eyes was not very happy, to say the least.

A few hours later, the sun had begun to set. Naruto, not wanting to ruin his first real impression on Sakura, thought up of a surprise for her. Although he enjoyed holding her in his arms, near a quiet and peaceful lake that glittered in its beauty, he would have to let her go for a while. Not wanting to do that, Naruto thought up a better idea. This idea seemed cheesy but he thought it was romantic.

"Sakura-chan," he started. Sakura glanced at him. "You gave me a surprise earlier, but now it's my turn to give you a surprise."

"Nani, Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked with a sudden curiosity. Naruto smirked and tied removed his forehead protector. He placed it over Sakura's eyes and tied it tight enough so that it wouldn't slip off easily, and not so tight that it would hurt her. Backing away a few steps, Naruto flashed through the several handseals.

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" he shouted as a giant toad puffed into existence.

"What the..." Gamabunta let out as he stared down at his summoner. Before he got to speak again, Naruto jumped on top of him and whispered to his ear. After a few "uh huhs", Naruto jumped back down to the ground and picked up Sakura and jumped up on Gamabunta's head. Gamabunta positioned himself on the angle that he was instructed to by Naruto.

"That should do it..." said the chief toad. Naruto nodded and removed his forehead protector from Sakura's field of vision.

"Surprise, Sakura-chan," he said. Sakura took in the view before her. She was beside Naruto, on top of the head of his summoned creature. Just before her was the sun just beginning to set. Sakura smiled at Naruto and hugged him, this was a beautiful sight indeed.

"This is a wonderful sight, Naruto-kun," she said to him as they sat down. Sakura lay her head on Naruto's lap.

"I'd hope so," Naruto replied. "I'm starting to feel the after effects of all that chakra that I used to summon Gamabunta."

Gamabunta only scoffed and continued smoking on his pipe.

"I didn't know you could be so romantic, Naruto-kun," she complimented. Naruto smiled at her again.

"Only for you, Sakura-chan," Sakura smiled and gently placed her lips on Naruto's.

After the sun had completely set, and darkness shrouded the sky, Naruto dismissed Gamabunta and decided to walk Sakura home. He didn't want her to get in trouble with her parents just because he was too selfish to keep her for himself other than taking her home. The new couple walked down the streets of Konoha very slowly so that they could spend as much time together as possible. There was always tomorrow and the day after but, since they lived the life of a ninja, any day could be their very last. Naruto entwined his hands with Sakura's smaller ones. The pink haired kunoichi glanced at her favorite blond headed shinobi and kissed him on the cheek as they continued walking down to the path to her home. Later, they arrived at Sakura's house. Naruto walked her to her doorstep and gave her one last kiss before he departed.

"Good night, Sakura-chan," he said to her as he turned around and left for his apartment. Sakura giggled to herself and entered her house.

"Good evening Sakura," her mother said to her. Sakura smelled her mother cooking something delicious. She sat on the chair in front of the dining table.

"How was your day?" her mother asked.

"It was like a dream come true," she replied happily.

"Did Sasuke finally give in to you?"

Sakura made a "Hn" that would disgrace the Uchiha.

"I don't feel anything for him anymore, mom," she said, staring at nothing, daydreaming about a particular blond.

"Oh, so, who was it?" her mother asked curiously.

"It was Naruto."

Sakura's mother flinched when she heard that name. She turned off the fire and untied her apron.

"Sakura, dinner is ready," she said as she walked out of the kitchen. "Go ahead and help yourself."

Sakura got up and grabbed a plate and chopsticks.

"Aren't you going to have some, mom?"

"N-no. I'll just get some sleep, I'm tired."

Sakura cocked her eyebrow up and noted to herself to ask her mother what was really going on. Sakura shoved the thought away and helped herself to the fried rice and fish that her mother cooked while still thinking about her new love. Love? Nah, it's too early to say such a powerful word in the beginning of such a relationship. Even though not many would call it love, Sakura knew that she had found the one. He was so gentle, romantic, and sweet, such traits could not be detected in her former crush, even with the Byakugan. Sakura gave it a bit more of thought. Would she be happy with Sasuke, even if he had possessed those traits? Sakura shook her head lightly. Sasuke was too heavily caught up on revenge. Although she did not know who it was he wanted to kill, she no longer cared. Sasuke was now, no more than a teammate to her. Her eyes were now set on the one person that she thought would never end up with, the young man that was making her dreams come true, the blond headed shinobi that she would now care for and cherish forever...

"Naruto-kun..."

* * *

_**A/N: Well, there goes chapter 2. Sakura and Naruto are now together and it seems things are going well. Frankly I could end it here but where's the fun in that? There has to be some kind of plot right? If you haven't guessed it yet, that plot includes a familiar raven haired shinobi. Will he spoil the birthday party? No offense to Sasuke lovers but this is my story. I'm hoping for a lot of hits or reviews before I post the next chapter.**_

_**...Sharinyakugan...**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**Well here I am again, bringing you all the next chapter of "Bonds of Steel". Hmm, 19 reviews is alright, I guess, since I only wished for hits anyway so 19 reviews isn't so bad right? Hope you all liked the NaruxSaku on the last chapter because there will be some disturbances in this one. For all of you who have probably guessed that Sasuke will be in this chapter to try to break them up... well, all I have to say is... you're-- oopsy, not supposed to say that part ) what was I thinking?? Anyways, read on!!!**_

_**EDIT: Super late chapter, sorry about this. High school is getting stressful . **_

_**Disclaimer: I seriously don't own Naruto... **_

_**Chapter 3**_

* * *

Sakura was awakened when she heard footsteps coming near her. Being trained as a ninja, her sense of awareness was increased beyond that of any normal human being. Sakura found herself laying on the couch in her living room. She must have been too tired after dinner to even go up to her room. The girl rubbed her eyes and saw her mother dressed up in her full Jounin uniform, looking like her Kakashi-sensei, save the white hair and mask. Sakura's mother, Shaori, looked much like Kurenai, the Jounin in charge of Team 9, but more beautiful. With silky pink hair going below her shoulders, a striking hot figure, an amazingly young age of thirty, and a great reputation as the 'cherry blossom assassin,' she has been asked out by many shinobi and male village citizens. Shaori gave birth to her daughter at the age of seventeen with another man. Sakura's father disappeared during a mission when she was very young, so she doesn't remember him at all. Sakura stood up and stretched and saw her mother filling up her holster with shuriken and kunai from a cupboard in the kitchen. 

"Going somewhere, Okaa-san?" Sakura asked, still slightly dazed. Shaori turned to her daughter.

"Hai," she nodded. "Kakashi stopped by a little while ago and gave me a scroll from Hokage-sama. It's nothing big, just some B ranked mission that requires me to gather information from Iwagakure."

"Are you going alone?" Shaori shook her head lightly.

"Kakashi and Shizune will be accompanying me on this one. I requested to do it alone but Hokage-sama wouldn't hear the end of it," she said as she walked over to Sakura and gave her a kiss on her cheek. "I'm going to be back in a few days, ok?"

"That's fine, Okaa-san," said Sakura, remembering what her sensei said the other day about a mission he was going to have today. Shaori nodded and puffed out of existence.

Sakura dragged herself to the bathroom to freshen up. After undressing herself and entering the shower, she allowed the warm water to soothe her skin. Sakura wondered what she should get for Naruto's birthday. She could get him a year supply of ramen but assumed that he probably has five years worth of ramen anyway. "Scratch that thought," she said to herself. She actually didn't know what to get him. Ramen was the only thing she knew that he held close to him. Suddenly, an idea struck her like a brick to the gut. He was probably getting sick of wearing that orange jumpsuit everyday, so, maybe a new set of clothes would be a good idea. Sakura nodded at the idea and found her eyes averting to the calendar a few feet from her shower. She rubbed the glass to take away the water that was blocking her view. The calendar told her that her birthday was going to be on the day that Naruto would treat Konoha twelve to a restaurant. Getting excited, she wondered what she would get from Naruto. Sakura slightly slapped herself for thinking such a thing. Naruto was all she could ever want, no birthday present from anyone would match what he had given and was still giving her, happiness.

After bathing for a few more minutes, Sakura stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel from the counter in front of her. The girl was glad for having placed her replacement clothes in the bathroom so she could dress up on the spot. She knew that no one was home but it didn't hurt to be extra cautious right? After dressing up in her usual attire, she ate some leftover food from the night before and left her house, locking the door in the process. Sakura walked to Naruto's apartment, hoping that he was awake so they could spend the day together or something. Since Kakashi-sensei was on a mission with her mother and Shizune-sempai, there would be no training today. On the way to Naruto's place, Sakura's eye caught the sight of a local clothing store. Praising herself for remembering to bring her money, she entered the store and quickly grabbed something suitable for the blond and paid the clerk before leaving. Finally arriving at Naruto's front door, Sakura reached down her pocket for the keys that Naruto left for her the day before and opened his door.

Sakura closed and locked the door before heading into Naruto's room. She wasn't surprised to find him still asleep. Sakura felt a smile on her lips. Naruto really did look cute while he was asleep. He seemed so peaceful and serene, and the nightcap that he wore only added to the overall cuteness. Sakura sat next to the sleeping blond and kissed his cheek. She didn't know why she did that but didn't exactly care. With his reflexes responding, Naruto subconsciously rubbed his cheek and found himself waking up with the love of his life next to him. Naruto was about to get up but was pushed back down with Sakura's lips on his. Waking up to his girlfriend's kiss was something he could really get used to. As much as he was enjoying making out with the pink haired girl in front of him, Naruto's need to eat and freshen up was getting the best of him. Slowly pulling away from the kiss, he left Sakura desiring for more.

"I'm sorry about that, Sakura-chan, but I have to get breakfast and a shower, besides, I smell like an old gymbag," he said, receiving a light laugh from Sakura.

"Your husky smell really arouses my hormones, you know?" she said, receiving a smile from the blond.

"Maybe so, but I'm sure that it would really turn you off if I ran out of energy due to starvation while we are kissing or doing other things," he winked at her.

Sakura grinned. Naruto arose from his bed and walked to the shower. While he took a shower, Sakura hid his birthday present under his bed so that he wouldn't find it until she told him so. The pink kunoichi noticed that the door to the bathroom was left open. Curiosity getting the better of her, she tip-toed close to the door and silently moved it enough so that she could get in. Sakura flashed through a few handseals to form a low level genjutsu to blend herself with her surroundings, much like a chameleon. Concentrating some chakra on her feet, she walked up the walls and peeked on her new love as he bathed. What she saw almost made her drool. Finely toned biceps, triceps, torso, and lightly tanned skin texture. If there was such thing as a god, Naruto could possibly look like one, in her eyes. He always wore his jumpsuit so no one ever saw what was underneath them. Sakura silently wiped the saliva oozing from her lips and made her way out of the bathroom. After completely leaving the bathroom, Sakura allowed herself to collapse on Naruto's bed. It probably was just hormones but, she could really feel herself getting hotter. Seeing Naruto's naked complexion sent tingles down her spine.

"I hope Naruto-kun doesn't start thinking I'm a pervert..." she said to herself.

After another five minutes, Naruto stepped out of the shower with a towel wrapped around his shoulders. He was fully dressed, thanking his lucky stars that he placed extra clothes in the bathroom for any emergency situations. The blond walked over to his living room and found Sakura sitting on the couch, watching some unknown program on the television. When Sakura noticed his presence, she motioned for him to sit next to her. Complying to her body language, Naruto sat down close enough to her that his legs were touching hers. Sakura moved closer to him and inhaled his scent.

"You smell really good, Naruto-kun," she said almost seductively. She didn't know why her hormones were acting up like this but it felt so damn good.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan, you smell lovely too," he replied sweetly as he moved closer to her as well.

"I don't know what's happening to me, Naruto-kun, but ever since we got together, this feeling inside me started bursting like a volcano," she said as she placed her hands on his lap.

"I believe it's normal for hormones to act up at our age, Sakura-chan," he said. Before he noticed anything else, his lips were smashed in with Sakura's. This was indeed a feeling that would take a lot of getting used to. It was very comfortable and foreign, in a good way. Kissing Sakura only on the lips was fun but it was getting boring. Wanting to satisfy Sakura's hormones without going too far, Naruto trailed his lips down her chin, and slowly made his way down her neck. Sakura moaned as the blond lightly sucked on the thin flesh on the side of her neck. The boy knew what this was doing to his girlfriend **(we'll just refer to them as boyfriend and girlfriend from now on). **As if expecting her reaction, Sakura moaned again and let her arms go limp beside her.

"Oh... Naruto-kun... you're so... ohh..." she managed to let out in between moans.

Naruto grinned and moved on just slightly above her chest. He knew that he was going to the point that she would want him to make her his officially, but he had his honor and would not do that to her. Praising Ero-sennin for his teachings, Naruto moved his hands slowly and gently against her luscious curves and soft body. Being trained as a ninja, it was expected for her to have fine curves and nicely toned body areas. Naruto found himself grinning but quickly smacked it off. Maybe his hormones were acting up too. Then again, how could it not? Sakura was one of the hottest kunoichi that he had ever laid eyes on. The boy was actually surprised that there were not many guys that asked her out. Maybe they were scared and thought that she and Sasuke were an item, but he was glad that they weren't, and hopefully, it would never turn out that way. Knowing that he was reaching the limit he allowed on himself with all this, Naruto halted and allowed the girl before him to breathe. After regaining her complexion, Sakura looked into his eyes.

"What's wrong, Naruto-kun? Why did you stop?" The blond smirked.

"Just giving you a sneak peek on what we will do, a couple of days from now," he said. Sakura playfully punched him on the arm.

"Don't tease me like that!"

"Hehehe," he murmured while rubbing his arm. "So, want to go out for some breakfast?"

"What's wrong with eating ramen at your house?" she asked, trying to read his mind but failed to do so. Naruto stood up and took her hand.

"That's because we're not eating ramen today," he told her. "I was thinking, something different, something new,"

Before Sakura was about to reply, Naruto used a teleporting jutsu on them both, leaving only a swirl of white smoke. Before she knew it, they stood in front of a pretty well known restaurant. It looked like a pretty expensive looking restaurant. Sakura knew of Naruto's poverty and dared not risk getting his money all spent on her. Sakura was better than that. She wouldn't allow Naruto to spend this much on her. If anything, she would pay for whatever it was.

"Naruto-kun, this is a very expensive restaurant..." she let out, hoping to see Naruto pout but saw the exact opposite. He was smiling, like usual.

"Don't worry about it, Sakura-chan, I've got it all covered," he said reassuringly as he took her hand and led her inside the restaurant. When they entered, a few people looked at them but there was something that surprised Naruto. They just returned to their conversations. No hateful words, no screaming, no insults, nothing. Smiling about it all, he walked to he cash register. The voice of a nice looking woman entered his ears.

"What will you two have today, sir, madam?" she asked him in the tone that told him that she did not know of his past or why he was treated the was he was.

"I'll just take today's special," he said quickly and nervously. He turned to Sakura, who was still looking at the menu above her. "I'll get what he's getting," she replied, pointing to Naruto.

The clerk nodded.

"That will be 14 yen, sir," she kindly said. Having no money in his pocket, Naruto took out the gift card that Shikamaru gave him the other day and showed it to the clerk. The clerk slightly gasped and smiled at him.

"So you must Uzumaki-san?" she asked. Naruto and Sakura were baffled. "Akimichi-sama told all of us to expect your arrival some time during this month," she said as she swiped the card on the machine and handed it back to Naruto.

"Two specials, coming right up," she announced as a waiter walked up to them and led them to their tables. Naruto and Sakura were placed at a very nice looking area with a table and two seats, as if it were empty before they even arrived. Naruto pulled up a seat for his girlfriend. Sakura sat on in and thanked him with a kiss to the cheek. Naruto pulled up the other seat and sat down. The waiter served them two glasses of fresh water with ice before taking his leave.

"Naruto-kun, are you a special guest around here?" Sakura asked.

Naruto shrugged.

"For a whole month, I guess I will be," he told her.

"So Naruto-kun."

"Hm?"

"What are your plans for your birthday?" Naruto smiled at her.

"I was thinking of treating all of Konoha Twelve to a restaurant, we could have fun there and stuff," he said.

"Oh," Sakura said with a hint of disappointment. She was hoping that she and Naruto could do something special on the day of her birthday, but this was understandable. She never told him her birthday, so how would he know?

While they continued with their small talk, they did not notice a certain blue clad shinobi. Sasuke Uchiha walked up to them and nearly surprised Sakura. Naruto, on the other hand, was used to surprise appearances due to his past, and did not even flinch. Sakura's mouth opened slightly at what she saw. Sasuke, was looking straight at her, and smiling? This was an odd surprise. Since when did the cold and heartless Sasuke look at her that way? Naruto squinted his eyes at the Uchiha. Something was wrong and he could feel it at the edge of his skin, like a bug bite. Naruto was always one to believe in second chances, hell, even third or fourth chances, but with Sasuke being nice and smiling at people, you could definitely tell that something was wrong or about to go wrong.

"Hey guys, mind if I sit down?" he politely asked. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"I don't think that's possible, Sasuke," Sasuke frowned. "There are only two seats available, and besides, I'm not paying for your meal."

"Oh, that won't be a problem, I can pay for my own meal. And for the seat problem..." he trailed off and formed a familiar handseal that forced Naruto to raise the other eyebrow.

"Kage bunshin no jutsu," he called out but not too loudly. Sasuke produced one shadow clone. That shadow clone formed the handseal for the henge no jutsu.

"Henge!" said the clone as it transformed to a chair. Sasuke pulled the chair towards the table and sat down next to his teammates.

"That is called trespassing, you know that, right Sasuke?" Naruto inquired. Sasuke nodded.

"Yeah, but I like spending time with my friends, even though I may not show it," he said. "Besides, I told the clerk that I was a part of Team 7, the team that you guys are in, so she let me join you two."

"Alright Sasuke, spill it, what do you want?" Naruto asked, not caring for his lack of manners.

"What's the matter with you, Naruto?" Sakura cut it before Sasuke was about to say anything. "He just wants to join us, is that such a big problem?"

"Yeah, Naruto..." Sasuke let out innocently. "Is it such a crime to spend quality time with my teammate, and friends?"

"Since when were you so attuned into spending time with us?" Naruto asked intently. Sakura looked at him and nodded her head slightly in realization. He was right after all. Sasuke never was the talking type, especially to both Naruto and herself.

"So, what's up Sasuke?" Sakura asked. Naruto started to fidget. Sakura glanced at him and put her hand on his leg. Something was definitely bothering Naruto, and it all started when Sasuke sat with them.

"Oh nothing, I just wanted to spend time with you guys for once," he said as innocently as before.

"Sasuke, why now?" Naruto asked.

"What's wrong with now? Are you two on a date?" he asked, although already knowing the answer.

Naruto nodded with a slightly triumphant smirk.

"Well, since you asked ever so politely, yes we are on a date," said Naruto. Sakura glanced at him again. Why did he sound like he was bragging?

"Congratulations to both of you," he said through his teeth. Sakura didn't seem to notice but Naruto knew what kind of game he was playing.

'Meh, the teme finally realized how stupid he was for not paying attention to Sakura. Now he's trying to steal her from me...' he analyzed. 'What a loser...'

When the meals arrived, they all ate fairly silently with an occasional talk from either one of them. After they finished, they left the restaurant. Much to Naruto's dismay, Sasuke decided to tag along. Sakura didn't seem to mind but she was hoping that she could have this day with Naruto. Another reason was that, she knew her feelings for Naruto but she still had some for Sasuke, as much as she tried to tell herself she didn't. 'Just tell yourself you love Naruto,' said her inner self. At that thought, Sakura's body twitched but it went unnoticed by her teammates as they continued to glare at each other.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke. He was calm, cool, handsome, and everyone loved and respected him. But even with all of those qualities, she was starting to find herself uncomfortable around him. He was a great shinobi with incredible potential, and he could have been the one that fathered her children in the future if only revenge wasn't the only thing that flew around his head like a bumblebee. Sakura then glanced at Naruto. Sure he wasn't the sharpest tack in the shelf but he was always there for her. Even though most didn't approve of his looks, abilities, potentials, and even rights as a human being, she knew that they were all wrong. Naruto was always there for her and everyone else that needed his help. He was with her through the small things by being the one that she could take her anger out on, and through the larger things by being the shoulder that she needed to cry on. Also, as a plus, Naruto in his own way, was really kind of attractive. Sakura grinned at her options. There was no competition to begin with. It was clear to her as to who would be the one to make her happy, she only regretted not seeing her chosen one when he was right in front of her.

"Naruto," she called to him and wrapped her arms around his. Both boys stopped glaring at each other and looked at their only female teammate. "Let's get out of here, you promised you would take me to that one romantic place that you were talking about, right?"

Naruto flared his eyebrows, "What romantic--"

"Oh don't tell me you forgot already," she interrupted and nudged him with her free elbow. Understanding what she was up to, Naruto grinned and looked at Sasuke.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke. I promised to take Sakura out somewhere else," Naruto glanced at his girlfriend and mouthed a 'thank you' at her. Sakura winked at him.

Although he was frustrated, he did not show it.

"Oh that's alright," said Sasuke, placing one of his hands in his pockets and clenched it hard. "You two go ahead and have fun, I have a few things to take care of anyway," he said as he walked towards the opposite direction.

After he was way out of sight Naruto started laughing uncontrollably. Sakura laughed along side him.

"Sakura-chan, that was really clever," Naruto complimented as his laughter slowly died down.

"Thanks," she said. "Honestly though, he was starting to get on my nerves."

Naruto glanced at her and raised one of this eyebrows.

"He was ruining our nearly perfect day by popping out of no where," said Sakura.

"Tell me about it," Naruto replied. "And here I thought you were enjoying his company."

"To an extent, I guess I was, but he just started to get annoying."

"I love you Sakura," Naruto said, seemingly out of no where.

"That was random, but I love you too Naruto," she said as she pulled him in to a kiss.

Little did they know, Sasuke was watching them kiss. He gripped his hands hard enough to allow blood to slowly ooze out of his palm.

* * *

Ohhh man, I'm soooooooo sorry for this very very very late update. I've pre-typed the next chapter but now I have new ideas so it will take me a while to redo that. 

Sharinyakugan


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sakura's POV

Dear Diary,

Today was one of the best day's of my life. After we ditched Sasuke, Naruto started showing me his true self, the very side of him that I fell in love with. Having enough energy inside our bodies after our meal, we played a bit of hide-n-seek, Naruto was hiding, I was seeking. The fun part was, he created about thirty shadow clones. At first, I found it to be so annoying but he really made it fun for me. After that bit of fun, he took me on top of the Hokage monument, where we sat on the head of the fourth Hokage while feeding some birds and watching the sunset. Well, I can't say we were doing that the whole time. Watching the sunset was a beautiful experience but after about half of it, I'm not sure how it began, but we just started making out. He tasted so good, Diary, and we kept it going until way after sundown. We went back to his apartment at around night time. My mom wasn't and wouldn't be home for the next few days so I decided to sleep over at my boyfriend's house. Since no one's home and I hate sleeping in a house with no one else in it, why not take advantage of the situation, right?

Oh, sorry Diary, I have to go. Naruto-kun is kissing my neck and it feels so damn good!

Sakura Haruno

Sakura closed her cherry blossom colored notebook and took out a scroll. Making several hand seals, the small book vanished into the scroll. With its purpose finished, Sakura put it away to the side of the table. Naruto was the only one home and even he didn't know the hand seals she performed, so the secrets in her diary were safe, not that she wouldn't tell him if he asked though, well, that's if he asked. Sakura turned to her boyfriend and kissed him back. She loved doing this, it was like a dream come true. All her life, she wanted to find a decent guy who had the capacity of treating her right, was strong, reliable, and compassionate. The feeling probably came from being bullied through most of her childhood years for having such a big forehead. Of course only Ino was the one that mentioned that past memory but the feeling of being somewhat empty was still there, keyword...was...

After their passionate make out session which lasted for about five minutes, Sakura's eyes wandered off to Naruto's alarm clock (yes they were in Naruto's room) and noticed that it was eight o'clock pm. Nearly forgetting what she was supposed to do, she pushed Naruto away a bit. Puzzled, Naruto raised an eyebrow as his girlfriend walked to his bed and knelt down, only to pull something out from under his bed. It was a medium sized, box shaped object inside a plastic bag. He glanced at Sakura, who's next few words were one of the phrases that he treasured the most in his life, especially when it came from his precious people.

"Happy birthday, Naruto-kun," she said as she stood up with the box and placed it on his bed. Naruto closed his eyes and smiled to protect a tear drop from falling down to the ground. The blond walked over to her and sat beside her. He looked at the box before him as if he, Sakura, and this object were the only things left in the world. He did it for a while until Sakura's voice brought him back to the land of the living.

"Well, aren't you going to open it?" she asked. Naruto whipped his glance to her and slowly nodded. Carefully taking the box from the bag like it was a piece of glass, he placed it in front of him and slowly removed the top of the box. Inside it was a set of clothing similar to what he wore except it was larger and the part where his clothing was blue, was black on the new item before him. Naruto held the jacket and the pants up high to further examine them, when something fell out from in between the clothes. Shinobi-like reflexes kicking in, Naruto caught it before it touched the bed. The blond's eyes twitched as he held the items.

'Are these metal...?' he asked himself as he gripped them tighter. He looked up to Sakura, only to see her nod her head.

"That's your second present from me, Naruto-kun," she said as she motioned for him to take the item out of its bag. Naruto placed his new clothes to the side and took the objects out from their container. Naruto eyed them carefully. They were kunai, that were held together by several rubber bands, but not silver like all the other kunai knives he's held in his life. They were black ones with very intricate engravings of leaf symbols on the handle and a swirling design, similar to the demonic seal on his stomach, on the blade parts. The blond shinobi just slightly touched the tip of one of them and felt a few droplets of blood pour from his finger and onto the kunais.

"Ouch... that's sharp..." he said to himself as he glanced at his already healing finger. Sakura didn't notice it but there was definitely something happening to the kunais. Naruto took a closer look and noticed that his blood, instead of sliding down and falling from the kunais, were being absorbed into them. Not only that but the kunais started pulsating a very foreign yet somewhat familiar aura. Naruto winced at the blades.

'Isn't that... my chakra signature...?' he asked himself as the aura subsided. Sakura noticed his unease and glanced at him.

"Are you alright, Naruto-kun?" she asked, in a worried tone. Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, just examining the kunais. What are they made of?" he asked, knowing full well that they could not be made of regular steel, due to their color.

"My father gave me those kunais when I was very little, before he went away. He told me that they were made from strange meteorites that supposedly came from a meteor shower about ten years ago. Most of the meteorite particles were carefully disposed of, since we didn't know what it was at the time. Without anyone else knowing, my father kept a fair amount of the meteorite. My father's reputation wasn't very well known back then so we didn't have very much money but he really wanted to create something special with the meteorite that he kept. So, during one of his missions in a very foreign land, a nearby volcano started to erupt and the mission was to evacuate the villagers and lead them away from the volcano.

"My father's squad led the people out of the village. Everyone was rescued but the volcano wouldn't stop its rampage, and sooner or later, the lava would reach other neighboring villages. Being the squad leader that he was, he told his squad to rescue the other villagers while he tried to hold off the lava. Despite the protest from his squad, they obeyed and left him to face the volcano alone. He tried all of his jutsus but the lava kept coming and he was running out of techniques to use and chakra to spare. Since he was a wind and water affinity, he used a very powerful jutsu that combined what was left of his chakra with a powerful tornado and a tsunami that he conjured from the nearby shores, to battle the volcanic force before him."

"After what seemed like an infinite struggle between good and evil, my father, using what chakra he had left, gave one final push and eventually defeated the volcano, immensely cooling down the lava at a miraculous rate. Knowing that the chakra depletion might have killed him, he ate a food pill that replenished his chakra. He knew that his squad was waiting for him and was about to return when a sparkling something caught his eye. He ran towards it and saw several rocks of obsidian where the lava once raged. He remembered the meteorite that he had been saving and decided to make something out of the obsidian and the meteorites. When he and his squad returned to the village, after a quick celebration, he visited a nearby furnace and created what he could from the minimum obsidian and meteorite pieces that he had. The kunais you now hold in your hands, Naruto-kun, are the very same blades that my father created all those years ago," she finally finished.

Contrary to popular belief in him being an idiot, Naruto was able to follow with what his girlfriend was saying. His eyes wandered to the kunais that he held. He started fantasizing many possibilities that could come to pass with the powerful knives that he grasped. It could have gone for a while longer but his other senses kicked in.

"I can't accept them, Sakura-chan," he said, handing the weapon back to her. Sakura was slightly taken aback. "If they came from your father, and he gave them to you as a parting gift, then I'd be considered selfish to take them from you."

Sakura recomposed herself and smiled at him. She wrapped her hands around his, and closed it, along with the kunai.

"No, Naruto-kun. I want you to have them. My father would have wanted me to cherish them but I cherish you just as much, and well, I think you should have them," she said, as Naruto pulled his hand back.

"Are you sure?"

Sakura nodded.

"Yes, just cherish them as much as I did," she said as she leaned forward and kissed him. Naruto put the blade to the side along with his new clothes. This was definitely the best birthday ever, and one that he would never forget.

* * *

NEXT MORNING 

Naruto had woken up early to start on his morning training. He took a quick shower and scribbled a note to Sakura, saying that he had woken up early to get some training done, since he had not done any the day before and wanted to train longer today to make up for the lost time. He put on the new clothes that his girlfriend had given him. After being fully dressed, he eyed the black kunais and decided not to take it with him, knowing he might accidentally throw them at a target and have them scratched or ruined. Naruto, careful not to prick himself like last time, removed the rubber bands from the knives and placed them under his bed before walking out the door, to the team-7 training ground. As he walked down the streets of Konoha, everyone was just waking up and setting up their stores. Feeling a slight grumble in his stomach, Naruto made his way to his favorite food stand. When he arrived, he saw team Gai, already there. The blond took a seat next to Lee.

"Hey guys," he said, announcing his presence to the team. Lee looked up at him.

"Ohayo, Naruto-kun," he said while continuing to much on the ramen inside his mouth. Tenten waved hello, Gai did his signature thumbs up pose, and Neji looked at him once before going back to his meal.

"So, what will it be today kid?" said Teuchi.

"Beef and pork miso ramen, please," he stated. Teuchi nodded and started cooking the boy's breakfast. After a few minutes, his food was ready. "Itadakimatsu!" he said as he started eating.

"So, what are you guys doing today?" Naruto asked, glancing at Gai-sensei.

"Today, we're running two hundred laps around the village, as well as five hundred push ups, five hundred sit ups, then after that, we'll be working on some taijutsu practice," said Gai, as he finished his last bowl or ramen.

Naruto actually stopped eating his ramen and raised his eyebrow at the deranged man that his friends called a sensei. He glanced at Neji, who had the look in his face that said 'you're not alone, I think he's a bit crazy as well'. Pushing all other thoughts aside, he remembered that he had to work double time for missing out on yesterday's training. Although it was fun, he had to be stronger in order to become Hokage.

"Think I can join you guys on your training?" Naruto asked somewhat hopefully. Lee and Gai's eyes sparkled.

"Anyone who's flames of youth burns brightly inside their hearts are always welcome to train with us!" said Gai as he stood from his chair and made one of his signature poses. Naruto, Tenten, and Neji had similar thoughts.

'Is he for real...?'

After the meal at Ichiraku's, they proceeded with running the two hundred lap and the five hundred push ups and sit ups. After a few hours, they all finished. Having trained on Gai's absurd standards, Lee, Neji, and Tenten finished rather quickly and ready for more. Naruto on the other hand, was having stomach cramps. Seriously, the way these guys trained, how is it possible that they still sometimes fail missions? No wonder Neji and Tenten thinks so low of their sensei. He's strong but sometimes his expectations were a tad bit higher than your everyday sensei, like Kakashi for example. But maybe that's what made him a better sensei, not because of his strange ideals, but his will to get stronger along with his students, and to teach them the value of hard work and determination. In a strange sort of way, Naruto's respect for the green spandex clad sensei had grown to a new level. After finishing his last sit up, Naruto got up quickly.

"Now that Naruto has finished, we will go on with our taijutsu exercises," he said as he pointed at Naruto and Tenten. "You two are up first!"

Naruto's mouth hung from his jaws.

"Are you serious?! I just finished some grueling exercise and I now I have to--" before he could finish, a fist connected with his face.

"Do not question my teaching methods Naruto," said Gai as he stared down at him. "These are the very same training exercises that I give my students everyday and they have benefited well from it. Maybe Kakashi has been lenient on your squad but when you train with mine, you will suck up! Do you understand me?!" he shouted like a drill sergeant.

Naruto stood up quickly and saluted the drill sergeant in front of him.

"Good, now, you may use any trick or weapon in your arsenal. Fight with the intent to kill, but do not kill your opponent, understood?!"

"Sir, yes sir!" said Naruto and Tenten in unison.

Both shinobi (well, shinobi and kunoichi actually but you get the idea) jumped a fair distance from each other. Tenten was the first to attack by throwing a shuriken at Naruto. Naruto dodged it effortlessly and charged at his opponent. When he got within distance, he threw a punch at her, aimed at the face. Tenten quickly raised her arm to block. The kunoichi aimed a kick at the blond's side but he blocked it too. They fought long and hard for at least twenty minutes. Tenten was getting desperate. Knowing that Neji was watching, she could not lose to Naruto, even though he was proving to be quite the challenge. Naruto himself was panting hard. Who knew fighting a girl would be so hard. Tenten was almost as skilled as a chuunin. The sparring match was dragging on too long, and had to be put to an end. Tenten resorted to her twin dragon scrolls. After performing the necessary hand seals, the two scrolls gave the desired effects by rising up at least twenty feet. Tenten jumped up and grabbed several ninja tools and threw them at Naruto at a rapid rate.

Having little energy left to evade the attacks. Naruto made the hand seal for the kage bunshin no jutsu. Just as he was about to perform it, it backfired. He had no chakra left. Gai, Lee, and Neji saw Tenten's weapons flying to Naruto with deadly speed, too fast for them to make it in there in time to save the blond. Naruto closed his eyes and shielded his body with his arms. This would really hurt but it was nothing that he couldn't survive. As the weapons drew nearer and nearer, Naruto readied his body for the pain, but it didn't happen. Naruto opened his eyes and saw about four shuriken, five kunai, and seven sickles, all cut in half or into smaller pieces. The young demon vessel was baffled. How the hell did that happen? Naruto glanced at his friends, they shared the same look as he did.

"What in the world are those?" said Neji as he pointed at Naruto. Three objects circled around Naruto's body (think of Mario Card, when you get the three turtle shell power up thing). Naruto glanced at the object and gasped. They were the kunais given to him by Sakura. But how were they circling around him?

"What kind of jutsu did you use, Naruto-san?" Tenten asked as she dropped to the ground, her twin dragon scrolls circling around her.

"I didn't do anything," said Naruto, still completely amazed at the floating kunais around him.

'I thought I left these back at home...' he thought to himself.

"Whatever it was, it won't last long!" said Tenten as she grabbed more weapons from her scrolls and threw them at Naruto. Naruto was about to move out of the way when he noticed the kunais move to block the first shuriken that was coming to him. Neji winced and activated his byakugan. The kunais were not only blocking the incoming projectiles, but also cutting them up at breakneck speed and accurate precision. Naruto just stood there as his kunais were defending him from the barrage of ninja weaponry that was coming his way.

After about a minute, Tenten's scrolls vanished. She was amazed to see that not a single one of them even came close to her target. It wasn't possible though. She threw them, not only in a single direction, but also aimed for other parts of the body and the kunais shredded them all without any of them coming even an inch from Naruto. Due to chakra depletion and extreme tiredness, Tenten collapsed. The black kunais stopped flying around and dropped. Naruto quickly caught them with both of his hands like last time and examined it. Gai, Neji, and Lee ran to Tenten, to make sure she was still breathing. It seemed like she was going to be alright. Gai looked at the blond and walked to him.

"Naruto-san, what did you do to those kunais to make them do what they did?"

Naruto slowly looked at him with a blank expression.

"I have no idea..."

"Gai-sensei, will you please move aside? I wish to try a little experiment," said Neji. Gai looked confused but complied. With great speed, Neji pulled out a shuriken from his holster and threw it at Naruto. Taken by surprise and having little to time to evade, Naruto could do nothing but stand there. He placed his arms over his body and heard metal clash with metal. When he placed his arms down, he noticed that he was no longer holding his kunais. One of them were floating in front of him while the other two were circling around them protectively. After another second, the kunai joined the other two in circling around Naruto's body.

"As I expected," said Neji as he walked towards Naruto. "I don't know how you did it Naruto-san, but you have created something that is similar to Gaara-san's sand defense."

"What do you mean, Neji?" Naruto asked. Gai and Lee had already caught on.

"Just as Gaara-san's sand defends him from up coming attacks, your kunais do the same. If four or more attacks come towards you, those black kunais will cut up the closest one and block the upcoming one. I have noticed that they will not slice every weapon or attack that comes to it. Only if they know that they cannot cut the next attack, will they block. But it seems as though they move at speed that is faster than light, so I'm not exactly sure whether they will not be able to cut the attacks. They seem to be very powerful too, and I am most positive that they have the capacity to defend you from even chakra related attacks, such as jutsus," explained Neji.

"You mean these kunais can probably protect me from a rain of fireballs or a storm of large icicles? But how can they with their size?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know, but when I examined them with my byakugan, I saw a strange looking chakra coursing inside them. It is not a regular shinobi's chakra, nor is it that weird chakra that you used in our battle in the chuunin exams. If I had to take a very well educated guess, I'd say it is those two chakras mixed together as well as something else, to form something more lethal, powerful, yet controlled and less aggressive," he said, turning off his byakugan. "It is also my hunch that those kunais will only protect you, seeing as though I sensed some of your chakra inside them. And, I believe that they will come to your defense, regardless of their location. When I threw a shuriken at you, that kunai teleported from your grip and in front of your body to protect you from my attack."

"I see, but how can they protect me from all sorts of attacks? Won't they break?"

Neji shook his head.

"I thought about that but," he said paused as he grabbed the kunai from the air, "when I examined them, I noticed that all three of them are made of a tough earthly mineral called obsidian. But they are also made of something that I cannot quite place." When he finished, the black kunai vanished from his grip and ended in Naruto's enclosed fist, as if somehow squeezing itself in there. "The last thing I noticed is that they take an interesting liking into you and will not let others possess them for too long, as they will return to you after a little while."

Naruto glanced at the kunais again and placed it inside his holster. Neji placed his hand on Naruto's shoulder.

"I don't know how you came into possession of such amazing knives but you should consider yourself very fortunate," he said as he walked back to Tenten and the rest of his team.

"We'll have to cut training for today, Naruto-san," said Gai. "We need to take care of Tenten first."

Naruto nodded in understanding as team Gai vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto walked out of the training grounds and back to his apartment. He expected to see Sakura but instead, saw a note on his refrigerator door with a magnet on it. It said that she went to work at the hospital and wouldn't be back until around night time. Naruto nodded and threw the sheet of paper in the trash can. Seeing as there was nothing to do in his home, he left and wandered around the streets. Before he was able to gather his thoughts about his new weapon, the sound of at least three shuriken were coming his way. He heard them coming but didn't bother dodging as one of his black kunais appeared from his holster and sliced up the deadly stars. The kunai repositioned itself into his grip. Naruto looked to his side and saw who threw the shuriken at him.

"Hey dobe, wanna spar?" said Sasuke with his all time freaky grin.

"Bad timing, Sasuke-teme. I want to but I have to think about a few things," he said calmly, as he started twirling his black kunai.

"Think about what? And what's that black kunai you're holding?" he asked.

"That's what I'm thinking about. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to head on to Baa-chan's office to ask her what this is exactly," he said as he tossed the kunai up in the air. It was about to land in his grip when Sasuke quickly snatched it.

"Looks kinda cool, dobe, where'd you get it?" he said, examining it.

"You wanna hang on to it? Fine, go ahead," he said as he started walking away as he mumbled something that Sasuke was unable to comprehend.

'If you can...'

After taking several steps away from the raven haired boy, the black kunai appeared back in Naruto's grip as he started tossing it into the air again. Sasuke stood there, unable to comprehend what just happened.

* * *

Well, that's it for now. I think I might change the genre for this story. With this sudden black kunai thing, it isn't really turning out as a the romantic/dramatic story I once envisioned, so I might change it into romance & action/adventure. There will still be a lot of romance between Sakura and Naruto, that part won't change, so I hope you guys don't get pissed off or anything.

EDIT: I'm sorry about this mistake. As I said before, you don't have to review for this chapter, but if you wish, you can and it will be greatly appreciated. Also, if any of you have any ideas for upcoming chapters, other than the romance parts (I will personally take care of those), simply include them in your reviews and I will take them into careful and absolute consideration.

Sharinyakugan


	5. Chapter 5

READ THIS ------ Please correct me if I'm wrong and don't go all pissed at me if I am but, Iwa is Sound, right? If not, then please tell me the correct term so that I may fix my mistakes. Thank you.

EDIT: Thank you all for telling me that Oto is actually Sound and Iwa is Rock.

Chapter 5

* * *

Naruto walked through the streets of Konoha in deep thought. Arms crossed and looking to the distance, he wondered if these new accessories of his would change anything in his life or even shinobi career. These presents from his girlfriend would protect him if he was in danger, like Gaara's sand shield. It was actually quite nice and really came in handy, especially while he closed his eyes to think deeper. As he walked down the streets with his eyes closed, several villagers through rocks, vegetables, and anything else they could grab onto, at him. Naruto continued walking as his kunais appeared from his holster to protect him. Since the kunais moved at light speed, it really only took one of his kunais to protect him, and that was what was happening. As one of the kunais protected him, the other two continued orbiting around him. The villagers were stunned at this. Even though their projectiles came from every direction, it still only took one kunai to protect their target. 

Naruto opened his eyes a while later when he arrived at the Hokage tower. After thinking about it for a bit, he decided not to ask baa-chan about his new toys, seeing as though she might not really know what they were or how they only served him, but he would however inform her that he possessed them. As he climbed the stairs to the Hokage's office, he wondered how she would react to such a weapon. When he arrived, he was about to open the door when Asuma, busted out of it and shut the door tightly. He was panting hard until he saw Naruto, who still had his kunais orbiting around him. The man opted to ask him about it later.

"Naruto-san, do not go in there. Tsunade-sama is having a tantrum because she lost another gamble with some locals, by the way, what are those kunais orbiting around you?" he asked curiously, examining each one as it passed him.

"Wanna find out with me?" he asked as he turned the knob to open the door. The man tried to stop him but it was too late. When he opened the door, he instantly saw Tsunade's fist coming at him. Without even flinching or reacting, one of his kunais blocked her punch with the flat side of the blade. Due to the sheer force of the punch, the other two kunais stopped orbiting around him but instead stayed in one place. Naruto, however did not budge. The jounin's jaw hit the floor. How the hell could one kunai stop Tsunade's punch? Even Tsunade herself was a bit disturbed but let it go as she retracted her fist. Naruto's kunais started to orbit around him once again.

"Are you okay, baa-chan?" Naruto asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Don't worry about me, what I'm interested in knowing is about those kunais you got there, brat," she replied, taking an interest to Naruto's weapons. Sensing no more danger, Naruto's kunais vanished back into his holster.

Naruto and Asuma walked inside the room. Asuma closed the door. Asuma chose to sit on the couch to the side so he could properly listen to any story that Naruto might have about the strange knives that he possessed. Tsunade walked back to her seat and looked up at the blond that stood in front of her desk. Naruto sighed and pulled up a seat to begin his story. He explained how he had received them from Sakura, how they appeared when he was in danger during his sparring match with Tenten, and how it protected him from the villagers. He chose to leave the part out with Sasuke, thinking that the old lady might strangle the Uchiha for doing such a thing. Asuma and Tsunade nodded every so often.

"So, let me get this straight," said Tsunade. "Those kunais you got there, are like Gaara's sand defense?"

Naruto nodded.

"I still can't believe that it only took one of them to block Tsunade-sama's punch," Asuma commented.

"Yes, I'm still wondering to myself how that's even possible, but in any case--" Tsunade was cut short as a puff of smoke appeared behind Naruto. When the smoke subsided, they saw that it was a young shinobi, dressed like a chuunin, holding a scroll in his mouth. The young man ran up to Tsunade, dropped the scroll, and vanished. Tsunade opened up the scroll and started reading the contents. When she finished, her facial expression changed to that of a worried and stern one.

"Asuma! Go and find Sakura, she should be in the hospital. While you're at it, get Sasuke in here too. I'm not sure where he is but find him immediately, and bring them both back here," she said as she stood from her chair. Asuma knew better to follow orders and ask questions later. That's just what he did as he nodded and vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Naruto stood up from his seat as well.

"What's going on, baa-chan? What was on the scroll?" he asked.

"Shizune, Kakashi, and Sakura's mother, Shaori, are fighting off several Oto shinobi and are having a bit of trouble so they request back up," she said. A few minutes later, Sakura, Sasuke, and Asuma appeared behind Naruto. Sakura was out of her nurse uniform and into her kunoichi outfit.

"What is it, Tsuande-sama?" Sakura asked as she neared her.

"I'm sending you, Naruto, and Sasuke, to the Otogakure border to help out a team of jounin that I sent out on a mission," said Tsunade.

"Which jounin?" Sasuke asked.

"Kakashi, Shizune, and Shaori," replied Tsunade. Sakura's eyes widened. If her mother was in trouble, things must be really bad. Wasting no time at all, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke leaped out the window and headed for the gates of Konoha.

Tsunade and Asuma watched as the three genin raced out of the village.

"Will they really be enough?" Asuma asked.

Tsunade nodded. "I'm sure they will be, besides, I want to see how well those kunais of Naruto's will serve him in a real battle."

* * *

"Where the hell is that kid with that back up?!" cried Shaori as she struck down an Oto-ANBU.

"I don't know, but the back up should be here shortly," said Kakashi. "Until then, we have to keep holding on."

In a sudden flash, an Oto-jounin with a sword came up from behind Kakashi and aimed a side slash at him. Shizune appeared in front of the shinobi and blocked the blade with her own kunai, and slashed at his chest area using her scapel, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Saved your ass there, Kakashi," said Shizune as she went back to her own fight.

"Thanks, these guys are pretty tough," said Kakashi as he finished off another Oto shinobi. "Let's fall back and wait for the reinforcements," he said as the other two nodded. The three Konoha jounin dashed away with the remaining Oto-nin hot on their trail.

After about half an hour of running and jumping through trees, Naruto finally heard footsteps coming their way. In the distance, Sasuke could see three Konoha-nin sprinting their way. Kakashi, Shizune, and Shaori, met up with the other three genin.

"Are you three the reinforcements that Tsunade-sama sent?" asked Shizune, breathing heavily.

Sakura nodded. The eyes of the three jounin twitched but shook it off instantly. If Tsunade sent them, she must really believe that they could handle it. They knew full well that Tsunade had her reasons for everything, no matter how far-fetched their were in the end. Shaori looked at her daughter. She really has grown a lot, from the timid girl she once was, and she couldn't be any more proud of how her daughter turned out to be. If only her father were here to see what kind of kunoichi their daughter became. A kunoichi skilled both in battle and in the fields of medicine and healing. Shaori almost cried at her daughter's accomplishments but could not shed a tear yet, at least not in this situation when everyone's life were still at stake and in danger.

"Go! Take the information you have back to the village," said Naruto, in a commanding sort of voice, as if he was the leader of the squad. "Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan, I want you two to escort them back and protect them in case any Oto-nin get passed me."

Sakura's eyes winced as she walked forward to him.

"I won't let you stay here alone," she said firmly. She was about to say more when Naruto's lips came crashing to hers. The three jounin gaped at what they were seeing while Sasuke gave his usual 'hn' but was ticked off inside. So it was true then, what Sakura told her. Shaori couldn't believe it at first but she was forced to believe it now. Sakura really was dating the Kyuubi's vessel. She was about to break them off but stopped herself. If her daughter was able to see the goodness in him, then maybe she could too, but at another time. Naruto pulled out of the kiss a little later.

"Go on, Sakura-chan, I promise I'll meet up with you guys later," Sakura nodded, this time with more reassurance. Sakura motioned for the others to follow. Kakashi and Shizune were a bit hesitant but complied. Shaori trusted her daughter and the blond, so she did not hesitate to follow her daughter.

As the five Konoha-nin sprinted away, Naruto looked ahead of him and saw several Oto-nin charging at him, shinobi tools at hand. Naruto's kunais appeared before him and started orbiting his body as usual. One Oto-jounin jumped an aim a down strike assault with his sword. Naruto readied himself with a regular kunai in each hand. One of the black kunais that orbited him, blocked the initial assault, giving Naruto the chance to attack his enemy. The blond aimed for a slash but only scratched the jounin as he leaped away. There were at least ten Oto-nin in front of him, and in a flash, surrounded him. Naruto looked around him but was not worried at all, having complete faith in his skills and Sakura's birthday presents for him.

One of the Oto-nins started a flurry of hand seals. When he finished, he struck out his palm, as an invisible shockwave of sound headed for the blond. Since it was traveling so fast, Naruto had no time to react to it, but his kunais did. The kunai closest to the attack started spinning at an absurdly rapid speed and was able to repel the upcoming attack. Before anyone else could react, the same kunai that defended Naruto, appeared in front of the attacking Oto-nin and slit his throat. The Oto-nin fell down dead. The other shinobi gawked at what happened. Even Naruto was a bit surprised himself. He had no idea that the kunais could defend as well as attack, but since they were like Gaara's sand defense, he shouldn't have been too surprised. Naruto looked at the remaining shinobi.

"If you all wish to live, then I suggest you run the other way, or my kunais here will finish you all off," said Naruto.

"NEVER!!!" said a few of the Oto-nin as they charged at him.

The only thing that was heard in the next span of thirty seconds, was the sound of metal cutting flesh and breaking through other metals. After thirty seconds, Naruto looked at the sight around him. He stood at the same spot that he was standing on as the kunais continued to circle around his figure like they usually did. The shinobi that once surrounded him lay dead on the floor, each (except the first one that died) having one or more of their body parts cut from their bodies. Some had missing fingers, some had missing hands, others had missing arms and legs. Naruto had no idea that his kunais could be so violent, but he did warn them right? Nodding at his accomplishments, Naruto placed the two regular kunais, that he held in his hands, back in his holster and turned to catch up with his friends. Sensing no more critical danger or killing intent from the surrounding fields, the black kunais vanished and returned to Naruto's holster.

When Sakura and everyone else returned to Konoha, Kakashi, Shizune, and Shaori were escorted by Sasuke and Sakura, back to the Hokage's office. Sasuke was picking up some weird and unusual vibes though. First off, both Kakashi and Shizune were fairly quiet. Actually, they haven't spoken at all, even after they were pulled out from the Oto-nin's vision. Sasuke winced at Kakashi in particular. Even for an important mission such as this, you'd think he'd be reading his perverted novel, seeing as though he was out of enemy territory, but he wasn't. Shizune was another story. The raven haired shinobi knew very little about the medic nin but he could feel some thing strange about her too, some kind of unwelcoming feeling that he couldn't shake off. Sasuke simply decided to keep an eye on them. He watched as Sakura conversed with her mother about unimportant things. Her mother seemed normal enough, and there was no weird vibration coming from her. So what was he sensing from Kakashi and Shizune? Was it his imagination? Probably, but he would keep an eye on them anyway.

Several minutes later, Naruto made it to the gates of Konoha. He ran a bit faster than last time, as there was this unshakable feeling that he was getting, as if he'd missed something. Just as he entered through the gates and into the village, his black kunais appeared from his holster and started circling around him. Now Naruto was bothered. His kunais usually didn't come out unless there was danger. Suddenly, Naruto's eyes widened. Had something happened to Sakura and the others while on their way back to the village? He was about to turn back and search for them in the forest when his black kunais stopped revolving and pointed north-east. This was another thing that bothered Naruto. Were his kunais now like a evil tracking device of some sort? Naruto shrugged off the feeling and followed the direction that his kunais were pointing.

When Sasuke, Sakura, Shizune, Shaori, and Kakashi, reached the Hokage's tower, they vanished into a puff of smoke and appeared one door away from the Hokage's office. Kakashi grabbed the handle and turned it, opening the door. Tsunade sat on her chair, working on some paper work. When she noticed them, the blond Hokage put her paper work to the side and looked up to them. They didn't look as bad as she envisioned. Kakashi had minor injuries, all healable in a few seconds. Shizune's condition was about the same. Shaori had a bit more injuries than the other two but still weren't too bad, just a few minor cuts. She looked to the side and saw Sasuke and Sakura, both completely unharmed. She was about to ask how that was possible when she noticed a certain blond MIA. Tsunade narrowed her eyes.

"Where's Naruto?" she asked calmly.

"He decided to stay back to hold off the Oto-nin that were coming for us," replied Shizune. Tsunade shot up from her chair and slammed her hands on the table, but not so hard as to destroy it.

"Wait, he's out there on his own?!" Tsunade shouted. "Someone go get him! He doesn't stand a chance against them!"

"No, Hokage-sama," said Sasuke. "It was his wish to stay and fight. I think that, although it was a rash and stupid decision, it was very noble."

"Screw that! Go get him now!" Kakashi and Shizune nodded.

"But first, here are the reports from Otogakure, Tsunade-sama," said Kakashi, as he handed Tsunade the scroll of information. Tsunade took it and was about to open it when a silver kunai flew from the window and pierced through the parchment, impaling it to the wall. Everyone looked at the window to their side and saw a flash of yellow, charge into the room. Naruto appeared in front of Kakashi and Shizune, who twitched.

"Naruto! You're back, but, what is the meaning of this?" asked Tsunade, referring to the sudden entrance and the piercing of the scroll.

Just as she finished speaking, Naruto grabbed two of the three black kunais that circled around him and threw them at Kakashi and Shizune. The black kunais started attacking the two Konoha-nin. Sakura, Sasuke, and Shaori, stepped back and watched as the two Konoha-nin battled the kunais in front of them. Naruto grabbed the scroll from the wall and threw it outside through the window. As it flew outside, Naruto grabbed the third black kunai and hurled it at the scroll, piercing it, and sent it flying into the sky. A second later, an explosive tag was revealed on the scroll, causing it to explode. The black kunai flew back to Naruto's side, and revolved around him again. Naruto glared at the two as his kunais returned to him, revolving with the third one. Kakashi and Shizune had many cuts and some nearly fatal injuries. Naruto pointed at them.

"You bastards can fool me but not my kunais," he said as Kakashi's and Shizune's puffed into smoke, revealing male and female Oto-jounin. "Where are Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-neechan?!"

Before an answer was given, the two Oto-nin vanished and appeared outside, trying to escape from the village. Just as they vanished, they were followed by Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Shaori, and Tsunade. The Oto-nin were fast and were easily losing their pursuers. Knowing that they were quickly falling behind, Naruto grabbed two of his floating kunais, twirled them in his hands, and shot them through the air, aimed at the escaping Oto-nin. The two black kunais flew side by side, piercing through the winds, and quickly hit the two shinobi (one kunoichi but w/e lol no offense to girls) in the thighs. The two Oto-nin fell to the floor, as the group caught up to them. When Naruto caught up with them, the two kunais flew back to his side and continued orbiting along with the third one. Sakura grabbed the shirt of the kunoichi and brought her to her face.

"Where's Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-san?!" she hollered. At first, the kunoichi did not answer. Big mistake, as Sakura retracted her arm and slammed her fist at the bleeding wound on the kunoichi's thigh. The Oto-nin howled in pain and was ready to talk.

"We captured them, but that chick over there," she said pointing at Shaori, "managed to escape. She thought that she saved her comrades but my partner and I used henge to transform into our captives. She couldn't even tell it was us."

Sakura dropped the Oto-kunoichi on the floor. Naruto glanced at Tsunade.

"We have to rescue Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-neechan," he said. "And we have to do it fast, who knows what could be happening to them..."

Tsunade shot the two Oto-nin a glare that could kill.

"Where are you keeping them?! Is Orochimaru behind this?!"

This time, the shinobi answered.

"No, Orochimaru-sama is not behind this. We were ordered to by some men in black coats with red cloud patterns," he said. Sasuke and Naruto glanced at each other.

'Akatsuki...? But why...?' they thought in unison.

"Where are they being held?" Sasuke asked.

"About twenty miles south from here. We do not know exactly, as it was not our unit that took them in," said the kunoichi. Naruto nodded and faced Sakura.

"Sakura-chan, I need you to stay here and interrogate these two with Ino's pop," said Naruto in a serious tone. He expected Sakura to nod but this time, she didn't.

"No, Naruto-kun, not this time. This time, I'm going with you. I don't want you to worry about me. I want Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-san back as much as you do," she said, putting a finger on Naruto's lips before he could protest. "I know you love me, Naruto-kun, and I get it that you have to worry about me but, I'm not a little girl anymore. Let me take care of myself. I want to show you that I can, but I can't do that if you're always keeping me safe. Let me step into the battlefield and show you what I can do. Who knows? Maybe this time around, it will be me who will be saving your butt."

Before Naruto could protest, Tsunade whistled. Two ANBU appeared beside her. She motioned for them to take away the two Oto-nins. "I'll take these two for interrogation. Shaori, go on and take Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura on this mission. Keep them safe, as this will be an A-ranked, search and rescue assignment, understand?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," she said as she darted off to the village gates with team seven, minus Kakashi, trailing right behind her. Tsunade and her two ANBU guards walked away with their prisoners. Tsunade whistled again, as another ANBU appeared behind her.

"Go and fetch Inoichi Yamanaka, and tell him to meet me at my office."

"Hai, Hokage-sama!" he said as he vanished.

Shaori, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto jumped through the trees and kept a moderate pace, so as to not use too much chakra. Shaori noticed the black kunais around Naruto, endlessly revolving around his body. She knew they looked familiar but couldn't quite place it. After a bit of thought, she realized it. They were her husband's treasure. But why did Naruto have it? There had to be a reason, and her husband vanished before he and Naruto had a chance to meet, so that couldn't be the reason. She looked at her daughter. Sakura could have given them to him, since her husband gave them to her before he left on that one mission that he never returned from. But the other question is, what made them revolve around him like that? And when he through them at those Oto-nin, why did it seem like they had a life of their own. His kunais attacked their targets with incredible ferocity, almost like a beast or a monster would. She decided to ask at least that question.

"Naruto-kun," she started. Naruto glanced at the pink haired jounin.

"Hai, Shaori-sensei?" Shaori scoffed. Sensei huh?

"What is it that makes those black kunais of yours revolve around you like they do? And how is it that they protect you, like that Sunagakure boy's sand shield?" she asked curiously. Sakura and Sasuke glance at her. Frankly, they too were curious about how Naruto's kunais did that.

Naruto looked away for a moment.

FLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACK

It was around night time when Naruto was asleep. He decided to visit the Kyuubi's cage, wondering if the Kyuubi would greet him happy birthday. He had been doing this since his knowledge of the Kyuubi's existence inside him. He didn't normally wish to but sometimes the Kyuubi would growl like it needed something. Couldn't blame the fox though. Being trapped in a cage, unable to escape, with chakra constantly being taken to heal someone's injuries, yeah, definitely had the right to be bored. As Naruto reached the Kyuubi's cage, he found the massive creature asleep. The blond walked toward the bars and knocked. No answer. He knocked again, still no answer. He was about to knock a third time when the Kyuubi woke up. It opened one eye, a very dangerous eye that pierced into Naruto's very soul.

"What is it kid?" he growled.

"Oh nothing, just coming to visit my favorite tenant," he mused. The Kyuubi scoffed.

"And to what do I owe this grand honor to?" The Kyuubi played along.

"It's my birthday, teme," he replied, sitting Indian style in front of the cage.

"Oh yeah, about that," said Kyuubi. Naruto narrowed his eyes at the giant fox.

"What do you mean, about that...?"

"Remember when your blood was absorbed into those kunais?" Naruto nodded. "Hehe, well happy birthday brat. I hope my present for you will stop you from using my chakra for your stupid human needs."

With that, the Kyuubi returned to his slumber. Naruto looked down to the wet floor. He realized that the Kyuubi influenced his black kunais. Maybe telling everyone else that the Kyuubi infused his chakra into the kunais wouldn't be a good idea. But then again, it was nice of him to actually give a really good birthday present. Naruto began to ponder on what the kunais would be able to do with the Kyuubi's chakra. Since the Kyuubi was not from planet earth, it's chakra should be different and might actually provide different properties for whatever he grants it to. The blond thought back to his battle with Sasuke and the first time the Kyuubi influenced his chakra to him at such a high degree. Maybe the same thing would happen to his kunais? Who knows, but it seemed like a safe idea to not use them for a while, until he was sure of what they could do.

END OF FLASHBACKEND OF FLASHBACKEND OF FLASHBACKEND OF FLASHBACKEND OF FLASHBACKEND OF FLASHBACK

Naruto glanced at Shaori.

"I actually don't know. But I'm glad that these things can do what they are able to do," he replied, hoping that they would buy his lie. Shaori raised an eyebrow but bought the excuse. She would have to ask him later when he felt like revealing the true answer. Just as they resumed their course at a little quicker pace, two white blurs zipped from their sides and snatched Sakura and Sasuke, and ran to different directions.

"Sakura-chan!! Sasuke!!" Naruto shouted as he tried to run faster but the figures were too fast. Shaori and Naruto were in shock. They glanced at each other and nodded. The two Konoha-nins split into different directions. Shaori went after Sasuke and his kidnapper, while Naruto sprinted to Sakura.

"Sakura..." he said to himself. "Hold on, I'm coming."

* * *

Well, there goes chapter 5. What's going to happen to Kakashi and Shizune? What's going to happen to Sakura and Sasuke? Will Naruto rescue Sakura in time? Will Shaori get to Sasuke before it's too late? Hehe, only I know that for sure. Find out on the next exciting episode-- ehem-- chapter, of Bond of Steel. 

Sharinyakugan


	6. Chapter 6

ANOTHER IMPORTANT NOTE ------ I've been browsing the internet, mainly google, for some information that I could use on my story. I came across a Naruto forum and saw a very interesting theory made by a person named Yasha. The following plot line for this chapter and chapters afterwards will base on his/her theory. I actually found it very interesting. The credit goes to Yasha for the plot line that you will see in this chapter. I'm going to alter a few things so I'm not totally copying from what Yasha stated in the theory. And again, credit for the wonderful theory goes to Yasha.

Oh and as a side note, I might be changing the story summary to match what is happening now, since the story isn't going as I envisioned it when I first published this story. There will still be NaruxSaku, since that is the main pairing in this story, and that will not change

Chapter 6

* * *

Naruto continued his pursue on Sakura's kidnapper through the thick forest. He had long lost the pursuer, since he was very fast but he was able to still sniff out Sakura's cherry blossom fragrance, due to the Kyuubi's power heightening his senses. Since her mother probably already knew that they were dating, he didn't want to make a bad first impression. Sakura was one of those people that he cared about and was worth protecting. His first true experience in happiness started with her and he would be damned if it was the last. Kakashi's and Shizune's safety was still in his mind but getting to Sakura was more important. The demon vessel continued his sprint until he caught up with the would be pursuer. The shinobi was slowing down, probably due to running so fast. Naruto threw a shuriken at him, which missed but hit the tree branch that he was about to step on, causing him to fall to the floor. Naruto jumped down and secured Sakura from the shinobi, who turned out to be another Oto-nin, probably a chuunin. Naruto grabbed him by the collar and brought him to his face. 

"Who are you working for?!" Naruto spat. "Why are did you take Sakura-chan?!"

The Oto-chuunin snickered.

"You should've gone after that Uchiha kid, not this bitch," Naruto pulled his arm back and slammed his fist into the Oto-chuunin's nose.

"I, as well as a few other Oto-nin, were hired by some men with black coats and red clouded patterns. The man, with the long black hair and Sharingan eyes, yes that was him," said the Oto-chuunin, not even stopping the blood from his nose from oozing out.

"Why?"

"Don't know," said the man. "I was only told to get you away from the Uchiha."

"What's his motive? What is he planning?" Naruto demanded.

The Oto-chuunin shrugged.

"Like I said, I don't know. I'm just hired muscle," he replied casually. "You wanna know what they're planning? Go after them, brat."

Naruto sneered at him and engulfed his fist in red chakra. The chuunin gazed at the boy's fist, as it was the last thing he saw in a long long time. Naruto reeled his fist back and slammed it into the chuunin's gut, effectively knocking the wind out of him. Naruto dropped the unconscious shinobi and tended to Sakura. He placed his index and middle finger at the top side of her neck, just beneath the corners of her jaw. He felt a beat, she was still alive. Naruto shook her slightly. At first there was no effect. After several tries, the pink haired genin's eyes slightly fluttered open. Emerald green met ocean blue, as the two stared at each other. The black kunais returned to his holster as the blond embraced her as tightly as he could. If he lost Sakura, there was no way he could forgive himself. He broke the embrace and looked into her eyes once more.

"Sakura-chan, are you ok?" Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, just a little winded out, that's all," she said, getting up to her feet.

"We have to find Shaori-sensei and Sasuke-teme," said Naruto. Sakura nodded. Naruto closed his eyes.

'You helped me out before when you detected those Oto-nin that disguised themselves as Kakashi-sensei and Shizune-neechan. Please, help me out again, and locate Sasuke-teme and Shaori-sensei,' Naruto spoke in his mind, as if talking to his black kunais. At first, nothing happened, but after another few seconds, his black kunais reappeared around him and pointed south-west. Naruto grinned as he and Sakura darted off into the trees.

* * *

"What are you up to, this time, Itachi...?" asked Kakashi. Kakashi and Shizune were in a dark chamber. Being prisoners that they were, they weren't really in such bad conditions. Other than the few scratches they received while being taken hostages from their previous mission, there were no fatal injuries. They were restrained to a wall with chakra resistant chains. Itachi and Kisame sat on chairs, in front of the two Konoha-jounin. The shark faced man answered. 

"Oh, you'll find out soon, Konoha trash," he mocked. Kakashi winced.

"Why have you kept us alive?" Shizune asked in turn.

"That, I can grant you," said Itachi, standing up to face Shizune. "We have kept you alive because we have no intention in killing you. Your only purpose is as bait, to lure Sasuke to us. We know that Sasuke could care less about your safety, but the Kyuubi's vessel will want to save you," he said as he glanced at Kakashi.

"Being on the same team, he will be forced to go on a mission to rescue you. For the mean time, Naruto is none of my concern, neither is that lame chick that he's dating. I only want my little brother," he calmly stated.

"You lost the right to be called his brother, the moment you even thought of slaughtering your clan and betrayed your village," Kakashi spat.

"Oh come now, Kakashi, don't be so sentimental. Is a good old family reunion too much to ask for?"

"Try reviving your clan, you bastard!" said Shizune. Itachi glared at her. "Until then, it wont be much of a family reunion, won't it?"

"Perhaps, but he and I are family, nonetheless," he said as he and Kisame walked away, leaving Kakashi and Shizune to ponder to themselves.

"I hope Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura will be alright," said Shizune.

"Me too, but let's not forget that Shaori managed to escape. She won't let anything happen to them, especially her daughter," Kakashi replied reassuringly.

* * *

Shaori managed to catch up to the shinobi that abducted Sasuke. She had the chance to rescue him from the Oto-nin's clutches but she wanted to know where her comrades were being held, and chances were that he would be taken there. Shaori continued to follow the shinobi until he arrived at a clearing. Shaori stopped on a tree ledge, to spy on what was going on. The Oto-nin stopped to look at his surroundings for anyone that was following him. Shaori, being quite a distance away, could not be sensed by the Oto-nin. After making sure everything was clear, the shinobi formed a "kai" hand seal to release a genjutsu. Just then, in front of him revealed a hidden stairwell. Shaori winced her eyes. No wonder she couldn't find them when she escaped. The Oto-nin did another surrounding check and entered the stairwell, the genjutsu reactivated in no time. After another minute, Shaori figured that it would be safe enough to follow him. She leaped a few meters ahead and stepped into the clearing. She released the genjutsu and placed a tag near it and did several hand seals. When she finished, the tag started glowing blue but faded after a while, so as to deactivate the genjutsu, allowing Naruto and Sakura to follow her, as soon as Naruto rescued her daughter. Shaori went inside the stairwell. 

Several minutes of jumping from tree to tree passed. Naruto was pondering on what Itachi could possibly want with Sasuke all of a sudden. The last time he saw the red-eyed Uchiha, was when he was traveling with Ero-sennin. And on that time, Itachi was pummeling his brother to a pulp, saying he was not interested in him. What could possibly have stirred his mind the other way? Was he going to convince Sasuke to join the Akatsuki so that his own life could be spared? No way, Itachi could eliminate Sasuke in a blink of an eye, so that blows that theory. Was he going to sacrifice his brother for some ancient voodoo ritual to resurrect an evil force to wreak havoc on the world? Yeah right, that's way too overdone, besides, Itachi didn't seem like that kind of person. If such a thing were planned, Itachi would have taken Naruto himself, seeing as though, Naruto held inside him, the spirit of the legendary Kyuubi. Running out of ideas, Naruto sighed. Sakura glanced at her boyfriend.

"Something wrong, Naruto-kun?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm just trying to decipher what Itachi would want with Sasuke..." he replied.

"Itachi wants Sasuke? But why?" she asked with rising concern for her teammate.

"That's what I want to find out. Last time I saw the guy, he was beating the crap out of Sasuke. I'm just wondering what's going on in that freaky head of his."

"How did you find this out?" said Sakura curiously.

"I interrogated the guy who snatched you. It seems as though Itachi wants Sasuke for something but he didn't tell me what Itachi wanted him for," Naruto said glumly. Sakura was about to pat him on the shoulder when she saw a clearing in the forest. She also spotted a stairwell, as well as a tag of some sort next to it. She motioned for Naruto to follow her. They landed near the stairwell. Sakura picked up the tag. It was her one of her mother's special tags that deactivated genjutsus.

"Naruto-kun, I think my mother is inside. We'll more or less find Sasuke-san there too," she said as Naruto nodded. Both Konoha-nin entered.

They walked down the corridors of the hidden entrance, following every direction that Naruto's kunais led them to. After a few minutes of walking and going through certain turns, they arrived in a darker looking hallway. They also heard footsteps. Naruto readied a regular kunai in each hand, Sakura readied four shuriken in both hands, each shuriken in between her fingers. When the footsteps became louder, they hid in the shadows that the walls provided, waiting to pounce their would be target. After another few footsteps, and when they felt that their target was close enough, they jumped out of their hiding places to pounce...Shaori? Shaori, who also sensed chakra signatures prepared weapons in her hands, just to be safe. With all the bad tension that the corridors were giving, it was very difficult to tell whether the chakra signatures were good or evil. Sakura placed her shuriken back in her holster.

"Okaa-san!" Sakura cried with outstretched arms. Shaori embraced her daughter and glanced at Naruto.

"Thank you for rescuing my daughter, Naruto-kun," she said. Naruto bowed.

"Have you found Sasuke-san?" Sakura asked her mother.

"Yeah, the shinobi that abducted him, went this way," she said as she pointed behind her. "I was going to continue following him, in hopes of finding Kakashi-san and Shizune-san, when I sensed two chakra signatures behind me. It was a difficult to tell whether it was you two or a couple of scouting shinobi, due to the horrible tension that these corridors give."

"You got that right," said Naruto. "This place give me the chills."

Shaori nodded. "In any case, lets go and rescue everyone."

Naruto and Sakura nodded as they followed Shaori. Naruto's kunais stopped pointing and started revolving around him protectively again. They walked for a while until they reached a dark chamber. It was hard to see if anyone was around but they could sense two chakra signatures inside the chamber. The three Konoha-nin crept slowly to the chakra signatures until they got close enough. When they were within distance, it was easier to see.

"Kakashi-sensei! Shizune-neechan!" Naruto half yelled, as to not make so much noise. The two Konoha-nin had bandages over their mouths to prevent them from speaking. After Kakashi and Shizune were untied, they were about to walk out the same way they got in when a clash of metal and another material was heard. Naruto turned to see that two of his kunais were blocking something that should have struck him down. Before he knew it, the lights were turned on. The brightly lit chamber revealed Itachi next to a light switch, a few other Oto-nin, one of which with an unconscious Sasuke on his back, and Kisame with his Samehada clashed with two of Naruto's black kunais.

"I knew I heard something in here," said Kisame as he eyed the floating kunais that were blocking his sword. "Nice new toys ya got there, kid."

"Let Sasuke go!" said Naruto as he pulled out a regular kunai from his holster and aimed a slash at Kisame's arm. Kisame swatted Naruto's attack with his free arm and was about to punch him in the face to send him flying when Naruto's third kunai blocked his punch with the flat side of the blade. Having both of his arms occupied, Naruto slammed his food in the missing-nin's abdomen. Kisame held his abdomen as Naruto, Sakura, Shaori, Kakashi, and Shizune ran to the other side of the chamber. The Oto-nin zipped their way to the three jounin and started to fight them.

"Sakura, Naruto, get out of here!" Kakashi shouted as he incapacitated one of the Oto-nin.

"No!" Naruto yelled back. "We're not leaving without Sasuke."

Before anything else was said, Kisame appeared in front of Naruto and Sakura. He backhanded Sakura's face as she flew a few meters to the side and slammed his sword at Naruto once again. Again, with the same results, two of Naruto's black kunais blocked the attack. Naruto was about to run after Sakura when Kisame, yet again, aimed a punch at his face. Just as the shark-man predicted, Naruto's third kunai would rescue him. When all of his kunais were busy, Kisame, with a free leg, tripped the blond and stepped on his chest. Naruto was about to get the wind knocked out of him when he held his breath and hardened his entire upper torso, in hopes of reducing some of the damage. Kisame grinned at his prey.

"You're wide open kid," said the shark-man.

"So are you, assface!" said Naruto as he reeled in his left leg and slammed his foot in the only part of Kisame's body that had little to no protection. The missing-nin fell down and wailed in pain. Naruto again, proceeded to sprint to Sakura when Kisame formed a hand seal.

"Water style: water dragon jutsu!" Kisame shouted from the floor. The moist parts of the ground gathered itself into two large medium sized balls of water. It then formed two dragons that headed for Naruto. One of Naruto's kunais started rotating in a rapid circular motion as it successfully repelled the attack. Kisame formed another hand seal to control the second water dragon and aimed it for Sakura. Naruto grabbed one of his black kunais.

"Go, protect Sakura-chan," he said as he threw it at her. As if responding to his command, the kunai flew faster than the water dragon, and repelled the attack, the same way it did for Naruto. Without either of them knowing Itachi formed a hand seal with one hand.

"Fire style: dragon flame jutsu," he whispered as he blew on his finger to release a dragon of fire, aimed at Sakura. Naruto was about to use his third kunai to repel the attack when he realized that Sakura was no longer there. Both kunais returned to him. Naruto looked a few meters to his side and saw Sasuke with Sakura in his arms. Naruto then shifted his glance at the Sasuke that Itachi held in his arms as it turned into a log. Itachi was as surprised as Naruto but did not show it.

"Very good little brother, I'm very impressed," said Itachi.

The raven haired Konoha-gennin allowed Sakura back on her feet.

"I won't let anything happen to you, Sakura-chan, I promise," said Sasuke reassuringly. Sakura looked at the boy in front of him. Did he just call her chan? Naruto glared daggers at the Uchiha. The line he just used was a quote that Naruto had been saying all his life to the girl that he loves. He would have to force Sasuke to do some explaining when they returned to the village. Sasuke turned to Itachi. Both Uchihas glared at each other.

"Yeah, like I'd let your grubby little hands on me, you asshole," Sasuke spat at his brother. "After that Oto-nin captured me and knocked me out, I pretended to be knocked out so that I could find this hidden place you've got here. When he took me in, I sprung up from his hold and beat the shit out of him. I hid him away somewhere back in the forest, transformed into him and grabbed a log to use as a clone of myself to hand in to one of your men, while I snuck inside here to wait for Naruto, knowing that he would try to find Kakashi and Shizune."

"Oh really? Then how is it that Shaori-san did not know of this?" Itachi asked.

"I had to lose her somehow, so I could learn of your plans myself. I knew that she would try to take me away and in doing so, we would cause a commotion that would alert everyone. What I did was, after I disguised myself and cloned a log to look like me, I allowed her to think that she caught up to us, when in reality, the Oto-nin that carried me away lost her instantly. That allowed me some time to prepare a genjutsu to hide the stairwell in the middle of the forest where THERE ARE NO TREES TO HIDE IT!!!" Sasuke shouted, pointing at Kisame and Itachi. "But hey, she's a jounin, was there really a way for me to dust her off my track?"

Itachi and Kisame clapped nonchalantly. Sasuke had indeed formed a well thought out plan. Everyone was surprised. After the sarcastic clapping was over, Itachi turned on his serious face.

"Now, you all know none of you are leaving here alive right?" said Itachi in a monotone voice.

"Says who?" said Shizune as she beat down the last of the Oto-nin. "There's six of us and only two of you."

"Says the one who massacred one of the most powerful clans in Konohagakure without breaking a sweat or batting an eyelash," Itachi replied. "I'll be kind today and offer a deal."

The Konoha-nins listened carefully.

"All I want is Sasuke. When I have him, the rest of you can leave."

"And why would we hand him over to you?" Naruto asked. Just then, in a blink of an eye, Itachi appeared behind Naruto, who had a kunai aimed for his throat. Itachi's blade would have made contact with Naruto's skin, had it not been for one of his black kunais to shield him from the deadly attack by blocking Itachi's kunai with the flat part of its blade area. Itachi scoffed as he looked at Naruto's kunais. There should have been three but two were missing. The missing-nin slightly looked behind him and saw the other two black kunais already only inches away from his own neck.

"These blades may save your life, Naruto-kun, but even they cannot save the ones you love," he whispered to Naruto's ear as Kisame appeared next to Sakura and Sasuke with his Samehada, ready to shave the flesh off of their necks. This time, it was Sasuke's turn to scoff.

"I am not going to risk the life of the one that I cherish," said Sasuke as he turned to the pink haired gennin. Sakura glanced at him.

"All my life, I have been pushing you away because I thought you were weak and would get in my way. I know now that you are not and have only been trying to encourage me... to cheer me on in order to get stronger. I used think that you and your antics were a waste of time, but they weren't... you aren't. And because of my foolishness, I've lost you to someone else who has longed after you, more than I ever had. He is now the one that matters the most in your heart, while I have been pushed away. In normal cases, I'd probably care less, but in this case, I'm sad but I know I deserve it," said Sasuke. Sakura looked into his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun... what are you saying...?"

"By your endless annoyance, in a way, you taught me about precious people. I was once precious to you, that was why you always favored me, why you always asked me out on dates, and why you always cheered for me. But now, someone else has taken my place. I'm angry but I cannot and will not do anything about it. I don't deserve to be with you. Naruto deserves you more than me. Now, even now, when all I want to do is take you into my arms, I cannot allow someone as impure as myself to lay a finger on you. You who glimmers with so much radiance, to be held by someone like me, I won't do it," said Sasuke as he turned to Naruto.

"Naruto, I know we've always had our differences but for now, just for now, lets put them aside. I'm surrendering myself so you, Sakura, and the others can live. Go and live out a peaceful life with Sakura-chan. Whatever Itachi has planned for me, I will embrace it with open arms. For the sins I have caused to you and everyone else, this is my atonement," he said as Kisame pushed Sakura slightly, but too hard to make her fall to the ground. Sasuke glanced at her once more, this time, with pure and sincere eyes. "I know I haven't been the best guy in the world, nor have I ever been a quality friend to you, but, I want you to know that I am sorry. I am aware of the fact that you and Naruto are together but where I am going, I don't think we'll see each other again for a long time. I also want you to know..."

Sakura tried to read his eyes but could get nothing. What was happening here? Was Sasuke apologizing to her? Sasuke looked over to Naruto, his eyes telling the blond that he was very sorry for the next few words that would escape his mouth. As if knowing what his best friend would say, Naruto glanced at Sakura.

"That even though we can never be together, and possibly never can, I want you to know that," he looked deeper into Sakura's emerald eyes, "I love you."

Naruto ran to Sakura, his kunais disappearing from the air and into his holster, and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Itachi and Kisame placed their weapons away and walked closer to Sasuke. Itachi glanced at Naruto. "As promised, you will all be allowed to leave," said Itachi as he vanished. As soon as he was gone, a door that lead outside revealed itself on the side of the chamber.

"Naruto..." Sasuke trailed off. Naruto looked at his best friend. "Take care of her..."

Those were the last words they ever heard from him as Kisame grabbed his arm and vanished as well. Naruto looked down at Sakura, who was now shedding many tears. "Sasuke-kun..." she let out as she turned around and cried into Naruto's chest.

After they had all returned to the village. Kakashi, Shizune, and Shaori filed their report on what happened. Tsunade was infuriated but there was nothing to be done. Sasuke had vanished with two of the Akatsuki members without a trace. He surrendered himself of his own accord just to save the lives of those who were precious to him. Up till now, none of them knew what was happening to Sasuke. Whether he was being brutally tortured to spill any secrets of Konoha or if he was even alive, no one knew. Ever since Sasuke's sacrifice, Sakura had begun rethinking her priorities, namely concerning her relationship with Naruto. She knew and completely understood her feelings for Naruto but she never did fully let go of her feelings for Sasuke. She loves Naruto deeply, but in a sense, she also loves Sasuke. In an attempt to straighten out her feelings for both of her teammates, she called for Naruto to meet her at team seven's training ground at seven o'clock in the morning, sharp. Naruto arrived at the exact time and saw Sakura leaning on the fence, with her hands, where Sasuke used to, only this time, she did not face him, but the opposite direction.

"I'm here, Sakura-chan," said Naruto, announcing to the girl of his arrival.

"Naruto..." she trailed off. Naruto was a bit disturbed when he didn't hear the 'kun' at the end of his name.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" he asked with concern. Sakura turned to face him with sad eyes.

"We need to talk..."

* * *

Aww, well will ya look at that, they need to talk. About what? Well, some of you may have already guessed it but hey, only I know the right answer. I'd post the next chapter (which is ready by the way) but school is starting again and I'm just way too busy to schedule the time to click that "add chapter seven" button. If you guys can convince me, maybe I can, but remember... the keyword is, MAYBE. 

P.S... This is a NaruxSaku story, so despite what some of you might think, in the end, they will be together (...somehow...). If not, then I'd end this story right here, but I wouldn't wanna do that now would I? This is all just some part of the evil twists and turns I have planned for this story, and you know what? It's only the tip of the ice berg.

Sharinyakugan


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys, me again. It has come to my attention that the recent chapter in "Bond of Steel," was slightly (if not overly) rushed. One of my reviewers, uzukun7, has told me that there was not enough information describing Sakura and Naruto's relationship throughout the past five years. After re-reading it twice, I've realized that uzukun7 was right. This chapter will be a bit changed with some new parts. If you've already read chapter seven, reading this revised chapter may be beneficial to your understanding of this story. I know I'm making these mistakes a lot but I simply want this story to be as good as it can be.

xxNOTExx--- This chapter still takes place five years later.

xxSIDENOTExx--- I'm not sure if Iwagakure and Tsuchigakure are allies or not but in this story, they're not.

xxEDITxx--- I'm editing this chapter again . Yeah I know what you guys are thinking, but you'll have to bear with me on this one. This is the last change I'll make on this story since it might confuse you guys. The change will start just a little before the flashback and after the flashback. For those people who have read this chapter already, you will notice a little change in Naruto's behavior. He'll definitely be more professional. Basically the "I'm too busy with work to handle love" kind of person, but that might change later, WAY LATER.

Chapter 7 (Revised) (Again)

* * *

It was a dark and misty night. The stars shone brightly with the moon shining just as vividly. The citizens of Tsuchigakure slept safely and soundly that night, save a couple of shinobi that were still running around. A lone shinobi from the Iwagakure sprinted his way down the streets, to escape from his village. He constantly looked behind him, around him, and even further beyond him. After coming to the conclusion that no one was present, he kept his vision forward. The shinobi seemed like he had seen better days. He had slashes and injuries all over his upper body and a nearly sprained left ankle from trying in near vain to escape his pursuer. Why was he running from the village at such a frantic state? The shinobi thought deeply. It was a perfect plan... invade the village, be silent, infiltrate the council's quarters, and slay them all. A perfect plan indeed, but they hadn't counted on a very skilled individual that knew their plans. The fleeing shinobi continued sprinting as he thought about his squad. They entered the village in a number of nine, and in a matter of minutes, they were reduced to one, one shinobi that was hanging at the brink of life and death. Little did he know, his pursuer was merely watching him and letting him live off the few minutes he had left of his life. 

The Iwa-nin stopped in his tracks when he sensed a chakra signature behind him. He grabbed six shuriken from his holster, three in each hand, jumped and spun behind him to throw his deadly stars at the predator. The figure did nothing to defend himself from the oncoming attack, as they were sent to the side or cut in half by a familiar chunk of steel. The fleeing shinobi gasped and continued to sprint away as fast as his legs could go. As fast as he was, he could not escape, as both his ankles were impaled with shuriken. The Iwa-nin collapsed, he could no longer run, his feet had failed him. The pursuer slowed his pace and simply walked to the Iwa-nin, and stared down at him.

"Hamadachi Shikonawa..." said the standing shinobi as he took out from his pocket, what looked like a bingo book. The man took out a pencil as well and starting jotting down some notes. "Charged for the assassination of several feudal lords in Iwagakure, and the most recent failed assassination of the Tsuchigakure council."

The Iwa-nin eyed him in fear.

"Who the hell are you anyway? Your attire does not look like any Tsuchi-nin at all," he asked. The standing shinobi knelt down to his level and stared at his eyes through his mask. The Iwa-nin gazed at the mask using the light from the moon. It had a picture of a kunai between the eye holes, another kunai below the left eye hole, and another kunai below the right eye hole. It had very detailed fiery symbols around it, and finally a Konoha symbol on the top center.

"If my orders were to kill you, you'd have been dead before you even caught a glimpse of my mask. As for my identity, you won't need it for where you're going," he said as he tapped the Iwa-nin's injury, causing him to scream in pain.

"What are you going to do to me?" he asked.

"Take you to the Tsuchikage and go on my merry way home," he said as he placed his finger on the man's leg and formed a hand seal using the other hand. A second later, they appeared in the Tsuchikage's office, with the Tsuchikage sitting on his seat behind a desk.

"You do your work well, Firefox the Untouchable," said the Kage as he glanced at the hunter-nin and the Iwa-nin. The Tsuchikage snapped his fingers as three ANBU came to his side. "Take that Iwa-nin away for interrogation." The ANBU nodded as they did as they were told and took the Iwa-nin away. The Tsuchikage looked at the hunter-nin with respect all over his face.

"Thank you again, your reputation throughout the shinobi nations is growing, Firefox," he said as the hunter-nin simply nodded. The hunter-nin turned around and was about to leave when the Tsuchikage's voice stopped him. He turned to face the Kage, who had an envelope in his hand.

"Please take this, as a sign of my thanks," he said. The hunter-nin knew by the weight, what was inside but did not even bother to look as he stashed it inside his pocket. "If there is nothing left to be said, you may leave, Firefox."

Firefox bowed to the Kage again and vanished in a puff of smoke. Firefox appeared just a few meters outside the village gate. He removed his mask and let the strap hang on his neck as well as his hood, revealing a whole head of spiky blond hair, blue eyes, and a tanned face. He looked at his bingo book. Every name had a mark on it, some had check marks, indicating that the target was taken behind bars, others had an X mark on them, indicating that they are dead. Firefox flipped through the pages until he reached the last page. He smiled through his mask, no more names were left unmarked. Finally, after finishing his bingo book, and two years of solid training, he could return to his home village. He could pretty much remember everyone. His head fell as he remembered a certain girl with pink hair... well, she was more of a young woman now. Firefox, or Naruto, decided to allow his mind to wander to the past.

It had been five years since Sasuke left with Kisame and Itachi, four years ago was when most had forgotten the Uchiha, three years was what it took to become a hunter-nin and convince baa-chan to allow him to go on a mission to hunt down everyone in his bingo book in hopes of somehow finding his teammate, two years since he last saw everyone, and one year was all it took for the blond to become homesick. Sure traveling around the world, hunting down missing-nin and other criminals was a great experience, but it was as they say, home is where the heart is. Normally, not even hunter-nin were allowed to leave the village unless given a mission to do so, but Naruto used the tenant inside him as an excuse to feed to the council. The council's disliking of him only proved to serve him even better. It was Tsunade that had given him the hunter-nin status, but the council that gave him the power to leave the village at anytime of his choosing for whatever the reason. They probably just wanted him out of the village as much as possible, but hey, who was he to complain?

Now to return to the task at hand, Sakura. Naruto gripped his fists tightly as he stared on endlessly down the dark path that he walked, trying to recall the talk they had, five years ago, just after Sasuke's sudden leave.

xxFLASHBACKxx

"We need to talk..."

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto.

"Remember that sudden speech that Sasuke gave to me before his unexpected sacrifice of freedom to let us all live?" she asked, still not turning to face him. Naruto nodded. How could he forget? It was a pretty recent event after all.

"Yeah, I remember," this time, Sakura turned to face him. Normally he was able to read her perfectly just by looking into her eyes, but this time, he could not read her expression. He gazed at her eyes a little longer, just to try to see what was in her mind, but found himself unable to do so.

"Every one of his words hit me like a pound of bricks. It was like he was apologizing to me, but in a more sincere form. I didn't know how to react to it at first, but now I know. I understand your feelings for me, and this fling that we share, but I now realize, that I want to find Sasuke. I want to find him and ask him if what he told me was true," she said, glancing at Naruto's eyes.

"And what if he was being honest?" asked Naruto, his feet starting to fidget. Sakura looked at the ground below her for a minute until she looked up at the blond.

"If what he said was true, then I will be unable to allow myself to continue this relationship with you..."

"Sakura-chan..." Naruto could say nothing as his rage was starting to boil inside him. "You can't be serious..."

"Sasuke was my first love, and I believe that he always will be. I always told myself that he would snap out of his selfish ways and be with me one day. After he didn't, I guess I snapped too and just let go of my feelings for him just so I could be with you. Had I been just a little bit more patient, I'm sure he and I would have been together," she replied. Now Naruto was pist.

"So what was I then??" He said, a bit louder than expected. "Was I just someone to fill in for his position until he felt like wanting to be with you?"

"Please don't look at it that way, Naruto," she told him. Not hearing the 'kun' suffix was going to have to be something that he would have to live with.

"How am I supposed to look at it then?! Like it never happened?" He asked, in the same tone. "You can't tell me that you're seriously just going to forget about us and go after someone like him. He just said that to break us up. Now that you and I are together, he wants to be with you, and you're letting him... he's just going to shatter you to a million pieces, Sakura-chan, and I won't let him do that to you."

"This is my decision to make, Naruto," she replied, annoyance boiling up from inside her.

"Sakura-chan... please... don't do this."

"I've been thinking about this for a while, and this is the decision that I want to make. I'm sure there's someone else in this world that can make you happy," she said as she ignored the tears coming down from the blond's eyes. "I'm going to train as hard as I can so some day soon, I'll be strong enough to find him and bring him back here."

Naruto was unable to say anything. For the first time in his life, he felt powerless to do anything. Why was Sasuke so important to her? Was what they shared nothing but an illusion of something that wasn't meant to happen but happened anyway, as a joke from the gods above? It didn't matter now, not anymore. Even though she didn't say it specifically, he knew that she was breaking up with him. He could try to change her mind so they could be together again, but it just wouldn't be the same anymore. There would always be this awkward tension between them. His love was gone, now walking away, and he couldn't bring it to himself to say anything. There was nothing that he could do now, he just hoped that they could still be friends after this day. Would that even be possible anymore? Speaking of friendship, did Sakura ever really see him as a friend? Or just as a simple teammate. Maybe the latter was the correct decision. The blond shinobi cried hard that day and for two more days that came after. It was the saddest day of his life.

xxEND OF FLASH BACKxx

Naruto focused his vision ahead more and allowed the squeeze on his fist to lighten a bit. Before he left for his mission as well as training, he could remember all of Konoha twelve (minus Sasuke) there to see him off. They all gave him their praises and best wishes. When it came for Sakura's turn, she just gave him a hand shake and a pat on the back. That was all he remembered of her ever since he left. To say that he had expected a bit more than that could be considered the understatement of the year. Was Sasuke's going away speech able to affect her that greatly? Naruto made the slight effort to grin. Perhaps things were never going to be the same between them, and with his work as a hunter-nin, as well as her job as a nurse, perhaps it was better this way.

"Tsch, I'm done with love anyway," Naruto said to himself.

Naruto nodded. He didn't become a hunter-nin for the fame, glory, or respect. He took the job so as to use it as an excuse to get away from reality, to get away from his past. Many have hurt him during his younger days, but never in a thousand lifetimes did he expect it to come from the one that he cherished the most, especially when their relationship was just starting to bloom. So what was the point of returning to a village where everyone hated him? Oh yeah, not everyone hated him. Those people were worth coming back to. The hunter-nin looked beyond him. It was going to be a fairly long walk back to the village and the sun would be up in a few hours. Naruto put his mask and hood back on. Not wanting to catch any possible attention from any shinobi on a mission in the morning, the blond hopped to his feet and took to the trees with one thing set in mind.

"Konoha, I'm coming home..."

* * *

"Ohayo, Haruno-sama," said a nurse, bowing midway to a pink haired young woman before her. 

"Good morning, you're here early," said Sakura as she walked in the hospital and formed a handseal. In a puff of smoke, she was out of her kunoichi attire and into her nurse uniform. "How are the patients from yesterday?"

The nurse looked at her clipboard and flipped through some pages.

"Inuzuka-san is doing well. Most of his injuries have been taken care of and he's expected to be up on is feet today. Tenten-san is an equal story, just less injuries. Lastly, Aburame-san, has already awakened. He seems fine and was last seen talking to his insects," said the nurse as she looked up at Sakura.

"Is that all?"

"Hai, Haruno-sama. All of their main injuries have been treated, all that is needed to be done is await Hyuuga-sama's arrival. She just needs to use her jyuken style on their chakra points to hasten the chakra flow. With that, they should be out of here in no time at all," replied the nurse. Sakura nodded but raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Hinata isn't here yet? And what of Ino?" She asked. The nurse glanced at her clipboard again and shook her head.

"Not yet ma'am. I believe Hyuuga-sama will be coming in later today. She informed me yesterday that she will be a bit preoccupied with training to uphold her clan name until this afternoon. As for Yamanaka-sama, she will not return from her mission until at least the day after tomorrow," she replied formally.

"I understand," said Sakura. "Return to your post and await Hinata's arrival. As soon as she comes in, let me know."

"Hai, Haruno-sama," said the nurse as she nodded and walked away with her clipboard wrapped in her arms.

Sakura held her clipboard in her arms and went to visit her friends. It was really hard to believe that they were all still here, alive and well. It had been five years since they last saw Sasuke. Upon his leave, Sakura had broken her relationship with Naruto. Sure he'd been sweet, but she knew that she still had feelings for the Uchiha, feelings that at the time, she was unable to shake off. Truth be told, she had more feelings for Naruto than for Sasuke, but she couldn't dare to face the blond unless she had her heart decided on one man. The only way she saw to save him from madness was to break ties with him, at least until she got her affections straightened out. Sakura glanced at the walls as she walked. What was it that stirred up these hidden emotions for her once favored shinobi? Was it his last speech or was she getting bored of Naruto? She shook her head. No way, but in any case, she would have to think fast. She knew that deep in her heart, she was still in love with Naruto, madly in love. But she would somehow have to get rid of the extra unnecessary feelings for the Uchiha very soon.

When she arrived at her friends' room, she saw Kiba stroking a very large Akamaru. It was funny how five years ago, Akamaru was on Kiba's head, riding on his head through missions and training. Now, Akamaru's body was much larger than Kiba. It was now Kiba that rode on Akamaru for extra transportation. The two had become much like brothers. They depended on each other, and never failed to give aid to whoever was in need of it. Sakura turned to Tenten. She was sitting up and fiddling with her shinobi tools. Sakura never really did understood how she those out of no where but then again, Tenten was a specialist with kunai, shuriken, sickles, and that sort of thing, so Sakura never questioned it. Lastly, she glanced at Shino. He was already awake and had a fly on his finger, talking to it in insect language. The pink haired nurse cocked up an eyebrow. Shino still sort of crept her out, even though they have been comrades for years. Maybe if not for his insect-like ways, she would get more of the notion to strike up a conversation with him. First off, she never liked insects, second, he didn't talk to anyone all that much, third, he was way too mysterious for her liking anyway. All three of the patients noticed Sakura walk in and greeted her.

"Hey, what's up, Sakura?" asked Tenten, as she placed her shuriken away under her pillow.

"Oh nothing, just came in to check up on you guys," she said as she examined each one of them. Similar to what the previous nurse had stated, they were all fine, just needed some rest. Sakura sighed.

"You guys need to be more careful now. I know you're jounin now but--" she was cut off by Kiba.

"Actually Shino is the only jounin. Tenten and I are still chuunin," said Kiba.

"Right... as I was saying, I know you guys are experienced shinobi but you all still need to be very careful," said Sakura, expressing her worry for her teammates.

Tenten scoffed and darted her eyes at Kiba.

"We wouldn't be in this mess if Kiba hadn't stopped me from barraging our enemies with my shuriken."

"Are you kidding me?!" Kiba said, anger rising. "Your little toys wouldn't have touched those guys."

"Stop this nonsense bickering," said Shino. "We are all at fault here. Tenten-san, I know your expertise of your field but seriously, you wouldn't have been able to hit someone with kunai and shuriken who's speed matched Maito Guy's. Kiba-san, your teamwork with Akamaru is perfect but even you could not have gotten through with our opponent. As for me, due to my broken elbow and fractured ankle, I was open to almost everything that our enemy had to offer."

"Nice save, Shino," said Sakura, smiling at him.

"Had I not had these injuries, I could have finished the mission myself," he bragged. Sakura's mouth slightly fell, her eyes narrowing. When did he start to brag?

"Well, I'm going to check on the other patients. You guys just chill here, ok?"

They all nodded, not that they were doing much for a while anyway. With that, Sakura left. Actually, it wasn't her patients that she needed to check up on. She needed to see Tsunade for a while, to make her report of her patients. Sakura made her way to the reception desk and saw the nurse that was stationed there, busy with a bit of paper work.

"Hey, I'm going to step out for a bit, I need to report a few things to Tsunade-sama," she told the nurse. The girl nodded as Sakura changed out of her uniform and into her kunoichi wear. It was identical to Kakashi's uniform, except, she kept very special gloves that controlled her strength, in her pocket. After the change, she stepped out of the office and took to the rooftops, making her way to the Hokage tower.

After several minutes, Sakura made it to the tower. Wasting no time, she formed a hand seal with one hand and appeared in her sensei's office. When she arrived, Tsunade was already talking with someone else. It was hard to tell who it was. The figure was tall, seemed quite lean but hard to tell with the cloak, hood, gloves, and boots that was worn. Sakura judged that this figure was a man, seeing as though he lacked a woman's figure. That part wasn't all that hard to decipher, even with the cloak. Speaking of cloaks and hoods, only ANBU and hunter-nins wore that kind of thing, right? Sakura fixed herself a bit more. Although she held a significant title in Konohagakure, she was still outranked by some jounin, ANBU, and hunters. Seeing as though they paid no attention to her presence, it was clear that they probably didn't know she was there. Sakura slightly tapped the floor with her foot, making enough noise to catch the attention of the two people in front of her. Tsunade and the cloaked man stopped talking and faced Sakura. The cloaked man had a leaf symbol on his mask. Oh yeah, definitely a hunter-nin.

"Ah, Sakura, you're just in time to file your report," said Tsunade.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama, but who is this?" she asked, pointing at the hunter-nin. Before Tsunade was able to introduce him, the hunter-nin slowly removed his mask, starting from the top, going down. Upon revealing his blond hair, Sakura had already made sense of who it was. After the entire mask had been removed, Sakura faced a new Naruto. New because, just by being able to see his face, he looked more matured and transformed out of his former gennin state, and into a hunter shinobi.

"Hello, Haruno-san, how have you been?" he asked, respectfully bowing to her. Now this was new. Since when had Naruto become so respectful? She knew of his kindness but never of this side of him. Maybe he really had matured over the years. Hopefully it was her turn be mature.

"I'm doing very well, Uzumaki-san," she said in turn, bowing to him as well. This was definitely a new thing for her. Had their relationship status gone to such a level that they were now on the last name terms with each other? She told herself that it was time to try to get things back on track but she didn't know whether he still felt the same or not. And even if he did, she would still have to get rid of her feelings for Sasuke, which shouldn't be so hard since he wasn't even here anymore. Naruto glanced at his former teammate.

"You're no longer the little girl that you used to be, two years ago," he complimented. Sakura blushed.

"It's good that you're here, Sakura," said Tsunade. "I have a mission for you, Naruto, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Hinata."

Sakura glanced at her sensei. Naruto did the same. Tsunade took out a stack of envelopes from her drawer and handed it to Naruto. Naruto accepted it respectfully with both hands. This was seriously something that the blond Hokage would need to get used to. The young man that stood before her was no longer that boy that annoyed her to death. He no longer even called her baa-chan, a name she always thought she hated. Naruto was all business now, a perfect shinobi, someone that a Hokage, his peers, friends, and fellow villagers could be proud of. She was dead straight proud of the man that he had become, so why was there a pull on her heart telling her that Naruto had changed too much? Was it because of his broken relationship with her student? Possibly, but that wasn't her business. She just hoped they would get over that one day and go back to the way things used to be.

"The five of you will take that envelope to the Kazekage in Sunagakure. No one but him is allowed to see the contents of that envelope. The period of time this mission should take is ten days, but you may take the amount of time necessary for this mission, since there will be five of you. Understood?" Naruto and Sakura nodded.

"Originally, it was just supposed to be Shikamaru, Chouji, and Hinata, that would carry out this mission, but since you two are here, ah what the hell, right? Besides, Naruto's kunais and its ability to protect while attacking at the same time, along with another medic-nin, will keep injuries and deaths to a minimum," again, Naruto and Sakura nodded without question. "Shikamaru is already aware of this mission but Chouji and Hinata are yet to be informed. I would like you two to split up, find them, and inform this to them. After which, get started as soon as possible."

"If there are no further questions, then you two are dismissed," she said as they both bowed. Sakura formed a hand seal and vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto just whizzed out of existence (A/N: just imagine Goku from Dragonball Z when he does instant transmission), which sort of surprised Tsunade. "Not bad, Naruto."

When they were both gone, Tsunade examined the envelope that Naruto had just given her. It was an envelope with money inside it and a Tsuchigakure symbol on the front. It was weird though, because he was only told to hunt down missing-nin that were from Konohagakure, not missing-nin from Sunagakure, Tsuchigakure, Raigakure or Iwagakure. She took out the money and placed it in a different folder and was about to throw away the envelope when she saw writing inside it. She ripped out some of the sides so she could read it properly.

Dear Hokage,

The reason that Firefox could not read this was that it was written in ink that only a Kage like yourself can see. I wish to praise you for having a shinobi like Firefox at your side. It was not his mission to save my council from an assassination attempt but I would like to properly thank him, and yourself. He came by my office a couple of days before the assassination attempt and warned me what was going to happen. I was about to arrest him for entering another hidden village without proper documents and identification but he has these weird kunais that kept my men away from him. Finally, I accepted his warning and he even offered to take care of the mess, which actually saved me some of my men, since those Iwa-nins were no push overs.

For his remarkable deed, I would like to propose a treaty between Tsuchigakure and Konohagakure. Firefox is not someone I would like to mess with myself, and would be glad to have him by my side, if ever in the future I would require his assistance. I will send someone with official documents in a weeks' time. Please accept this proposal. Also, give Firefox my best regards, the next time you see him.

Tsuchikage

Tsunade snickered. Naruto had just gotten Konohagakure a new ally. And they would need as many allied villages as possible, with this new threat that was coming up. For the last few years, there was this itchy feeling that she had about Itachi's plans with his brother. Two Sharingan users are forces to be reckoned with, especially if Sasuke gets the proper training. If there was one thing that she knew, it was a weakness of Naruto's kunais. It can't defend him from genjutsus, but would still protect him from anyone and anything, should he fall for one, which is a good thing. Tsunade placed the letter away and pulled out a hidden bottle of sake.

Both shinobi appeared just outside the tower. They looked at each other in a somewhat professional way. This was what shinobi acted like right? If they didn't have history together, perhaps this wouldn't be such a weird scene. Sakura looked as deep as she could into Naruto's eyes. She could tell right then and there that something was missing. Something he had when he left for the past two years, didn't return with him when he came back. All she could see was the eyes of a shinobi, the eyes of a hunter-nin. But where was Naruto? What happened during his two year leave that made him change so drastically? Before his leave, he used to be that cheerful boy that brightened everyone's lives. Now, two years later, where was that boy? Who is this man? Where is Naruto? Who is this hunter-nin?

Naruto glanced at Sakura. He knew what she was thinking, frankly, he himself thought of it once during his two year leave. He had indeed asked himself who he was and what his purpose was. He thought that he and Sakura were meant to be but found himself so wrong when she left him for Sasuke. During his two year leave, he had begun assessing himself on whether or not love was truly for a shinobi like him? Love was indeed something that everyone should experience, but such a thing could be broken easily. His and Sakura's relationship was living proof that. In order for him to forever escape the pain of love, he vowed to himself to never do such a thing ever again. Love gave him hope for a new start at life, but nothing in life ever goes as planned. Love just backfired in his face. Such a painful memory should never be repeated in the future. Love was a mistake for him, a mistake that would never happen again.

'Why do I have to act this way around him? I should be able to talk and act any way I want around him. Maybe he hasn't let go of our past yet. I really wish he could, so maybe we could be together again. Even so, we can't fully be together if I can't get over Sasuke. I only hope that he continues to be more patient with me. Until that day arrives though, this is the only option I have. It hurts me to act like someone I know I'm not, but, I don't want anything awkward between us or it might affect our friends. I feel bad about this but it can't be helped,' she thought to herself as she felt a single tear fall from her eye.

"I'm sorry, Naruto-kun..."

* * *

Well, there's the revised chapter. Ohh I just forgot, you guys can't review for this chapter, or can you? I don't know, but if any of you have thoughts about this, please include it in a review in a chapter that you haven't reviewed in and just say it's for chapter seven. If anyone feels anything wrong with this chapter along with its flow to the story, please don't hesitate to tell me. I appreciate any comments on this story and will especially take criticism to careful consideration. 

Again, thanks uzukun7, for making me realize my mistake on the first chapter seven. This one is dedicated to you.

Sharinyakugan


	8. Chapter 8

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED

Hello everyone. I'm sorry about what I did to this story. I understand if none of my previous readers will read this anymore but I still feel like continuing it to the end. I'd have to say that I've gotten better as a writer and will take the challenge into writing that NaruSaku pairing that I started this story on. It would be nice if you guys started reading again, although I won't blame you if you don't.

* * *

Oh you guys are too much. I love these reviews that keep coming in. Reading all of your reviews have re-energized me on writing another chapter. Ok, to answer Lord Brat Vader's review, I suppose using ryo would have been the smart thing to do but I prefer using the actual name for Japanese currency. Now, on to RANDOMNATIONS, hehehe oops, did I type "A"? I meant it to actually be an S-ranked mission. You're right, it should be an S-ranked because it involved Akatsuki, forgive my little typing errors. Lastly, Kingkakashi... wow, thats quite a few things to answer... 

1. Normally yes, Sakura would have to work hard for Naruto's love again but based on the actual anime, no matter how much she turns him down, Naruto keeps coming back for more. Throughout the five years, Naruto has had a lot of time to think (I mean seriously?) and he decided to let Sakura have the first move. Why I didn't include this in the story, I'm not sure why but if any of you are reading this, this is an important fact to know.

2. Ooooh, this one is hard to answer. She hasn't decided on one yet since she used to love Sasuke and a bit later she loves Naruto. It's like playing tug of war, ya know? But, she will decide on someone soon.

3. Hmm, I've been thinking about this one. Naruto is apologizing to Sakura because he doesn't have the guts to start over again, as much as he wants to. He's afraid of getting shot down again. You might think that it's stupid but really, Naruto is no longer a kid. A "no" is a "no" for us mature people. Naruto is now nineteen and he understands what "no" means, unlike his former youth. I guess you can say that he doesn't want to get rejected again. And I think that answers #4 so I'll skip that.

Oh and, to clear something up, I want to state everyone's rankings.

- Naruto x Hunter-nin. - Sakura x Chuunin. - Sasuke x ???

- Shikamaru x Jounin. - Chouji x Chuunin. - Ino x Chuunin.

- Shino x Jounin. - Hinata x Jounin. - Kiba x Chuunin

- Neji x ANBU. - Lee x Chuunin. - Tenten x Chuunin.

xxEDITxx--- this chapter has been edited quite a bit. I'll leave it to you readers to find out where the edit was. To all of you new readers to my story, well, you'll just have to see.

Well, I think thats everything. Onwards!!

Chapter 8

* * *

Naruto spent a total of ten minutes searching for his pineapple headed friend and wasn't having much luck. Konohagakure is huge but there shouldn't be that many places that he should be. A lazy, cloud loving guy like him is supposed to stay in one spot looking at clouds. He figured he would just look for the genius instead of looking for Chouji, because wherever Shikmaru is, Chouji would be next to him. The blond hunter-nin even checked his favorite cloud spotting areas, which resulted in an absolute waste of time. Finally, irritation getting to his head, Naruto stopped at a rooftop and pulled out one of his black kunais. He now kept his special kunais in a separate holster, seeings as though they've somehow grown a little bigger than most kunais. He figured that since these three pieces of metal had his chakra as well as they Kyuubi's, it would react to his growth, or something like that. Naruto, being almost twice his size five years ago, his kunais were also almost twice the size of a regular kunai. He also concluded that they had special properties, some even that he had yet to figure out. He placed the kunai forward. 

"I want you to look for Shikamaru," he said. The wind blew passed him. Ok... he was talking to a piece of steel. Others might find this an odd action for an experienced hunter-nin, but his kunais were almost like living things. He could tell them to do things, only they can't talk back (no... really?, Go figure). Naruto released the kunai as it started floating in the air. After another second, the kunai pointed east. Naruto shifted his gaze to said direction and saw Shikamaru walking with Chouji, chatting about who knows what, while walking down the streets. Naruto took a leap and landed in front of the two.

"Naruto!" Chouji cried out as he ran to his companion and gave him a bone crushing hug. Naruto's kunai returned to the special holster so that Chouji wouldn't hurt himself.

"Ch-Chouji... I can't breath..." the blond let out. Why couldn't his kunai protect him from this...? The brown haired chuunin let go slowly as Naruto bent back down. Shikamaru and Chouji heard his back crack. "It's so good to see you again. How was your journey?"

"Oh, I'd love to tell you all about it but--" Naruto was cut off as Shikamru started speaking.

"I've already told him, Naruto," he said. Naruto mimicked Sasuke's usual 'hn'.

"Well, we should get going," said Naruto. "Lets all meet at the Konoha gates in ten minutes," he said as they all nodded and vanished.

-------------

"I see," said Hinata, packing her holster with several shuriken, kunai, and smoke bombs. "Uzumaki-san is back from his travels then?"

Sakura nodded.

"And Hokage-sama is sending us on a mission to Sunagakure?" she asked.

Sakura nodded again.

"Very well. Please give me a few minutes to get myself prepared," said Hinata as she entered her room to get a change of clothes. A little bit later, Hinata exited her room, fully dressed in her jounin outfit (yes she's a jounin in my story)

Sakura looked at the young woman carefully. Hinata was probably one of the few that had really changed the most in these past five years. To say that she was still a shy girl would get anyone laughed at. Training privately with her father and taking her training more seriously had actually given a good look for her. Her hair had grown longer and passed her back, almost reaching her waistline. She had her bangs grown to reach just below her nose. Most kunoichi would find that annoying in the battlefield but she actually makes it work, somehow. She was dressed in a full black attire, with tights similar to Lee's, except black. The Hyuuga heiress wore the same top that Neji wore (in the shippuden series) so as to cover her arms, that too was black, but did not wear the torso part. On her hands, she wore a pair of black full handed gloves. Covering her torso was something that looked like a sweater but it was made of a secret material that the Hyuugas used for their shinobi gears. Lastly, over her bottoms was a pair of black sweats and black boots. So the only thing that wasn't black was her face and hair.

Sakura felt something in her stomach, like a question that she'd been wanting to ask the Hyuuga for a while now, at least when she started wearing her new outfit. It wouldn't be a rude question as to why a pale girl such as he would like to wear a color that was her complete opposite, right? Shaking it off her head, she figured that there was nothing wrong with that but she had to ask anyway.

"Hinata-san, why do you wear full black?" Sakura asked. The Hyuuga glanced to her friend while she fixed her boot laces.

"I like this color, and this outfit was what I was wearing when my friends and enemies started calling my code name," she said as she finished fixing her laces. "Since we're on a mission, Sakura-san, it would make sense for us to meet our teammates at the Konoha gates right?"

"Oh yeah, what was it they called you?"

"Midnight Assailant," said Hinata. "Now I believe it's time for us to go."

Sakura nodded for the third time as they both vanished.

-------------

After waiting for exactly ten minutes, Naruto shifted his gaze from a tree to a few feet to his left. Shikamaru and Chouji also felt a presence coming their way. Out of of no where, Sakura and Hinata appeared. Naruto looked over Hinata's outfit. He felt a slight drool coming from his mouth but instantly sucked his saliva back into his mouth before it made any public appearance. To say the least, Hinata was hot. Hinata glanced at Naruto. She no longer fainted at the sight of him, Neji and her father had taught her well. She walked up to him and bowed. Naruto raised an eyebrow and paid her the same respect. Hinata looked into his blue eyes, as if penetrating them with her ghostly white ones. Naruto had grown as well, the last time she saw him. Although he wore a black trench coat, and hunter-nin armor, she knew just by looking at his face, how his entire body looked. She didn't need the Byakugan for that. Naruto had the same color interests she did.

"Ohayo, Uzumaki-san," she greeted. "I expect your travels went well?"

"Arigato, Hyuuga-sama," he replied with equal respect. "My travels went very well."

"I see that you are no longer that boy I remember when we were younger. You've learned quite a bit of manners and respect throughout your travels. May I ask who it was that taught you these fine ways?" she formed a slight grin on her mouth.

"You're no longer that shy girl from five years ago, aren't you? I'd have to say though, that these manners of mine are self-taught. I regret to inform you that I traveled alone and cannot recommend any such person for you," he replied. "It's good to see you again."

"You as well, Uzumaki-san," she said, bowing to him once more as she turned to their jounin squad leader. All eyes were on Shikamaru. He was about to say his speech when Naruto handed him an envelope. Shikamaru gratefully accepted it.

"Alright people, our mission is simple. Just bring this thing to Kazekage-sama of Sunagakure, await his response, and return. Got it?" The other four nodded. Without any further questions, the entire squad vanished in a circle of leaves.

The next few minutes of the mission was spent in silence. One hunter-nin, two jounin, and two chuunin. They were all professionals in their fields. When still in their gennin days, you could actually hear their footsteps and decipher how far they were from you. Five years later, and now they ran as if their feet weren't even touching the ground, like ghosts. Even as they were still Chuunin, Chouji and Sakura were as important to the squad as everyone else and carried out their job without fail. Although Hinata was a jounin, and Sakura was only a chuunin, Sakura was still a better medic. Though possessing the skills of a jounin, she was still a chuunin due to her job in the hospital and being too busy to become a jounin.

Naruto kept glancing back and forth at Hinata and to the road in front of him. She really did look absolutely stunning in her outfit and that long hair. He had to admit it though, back in their younger days, he always did think that Hinata was very cute, in her own little way. Now, he couldn't stop looking at her. As hard as he tried to focus on the mission, his eyes kept glancing at her figure. Was it lust? Or was it his raging hormones? Probably both, seeing as though he was nearing the end of his teens and still hadn't had any "real action" yet. Without turning her head, Hinata caught Naruto's glance at her body. She was told by many in her clan that she was very beautiful, but to catch the attention of the one that she truly admired... perhaps they were right. Ever since she took her training more seriously, she had started to lose her infatuation for the blond hunter-nin. What was it inside her that was forcing these affections to rise up again?

Sakura also caught notice of Naruto's glances to Hinata. Now she was truly worried. She didn't want Naruto to fall head over heels for someone else, how ever selfish that may sound. But she had no say in it. It HAD been FIVE years after all. He was probably forgetting about her anyway and moved on like any other normal human being. Even though she too was very beautiful, as said by several of her patients and other citizens of Konoha, she had to admit that Hinata was also quite the looker. Maybe she never noticed, but there were some occasions when she walked around the streets of Konoha that she would attract a few young men, some even older men. Who could blame them? With a body like that? She could leave her life as a shinobi and become a successful model if she wanted. Sakura only wished that Naruto would wait a little bit longer.

After a few hours of tireless sprinting, Shikamaru glanced at his squad. They had been running for over three hours now. No matter what amount of brave face everyone was putting up, he could tell that they were getting exhausted. Chouji was slowing down and it wasn't due to his size. Sakura too had slightly lost her footing about an hour ago. Naruto and Hinata didn't look tired at all, but were beginning to slightly speed up their breathing patterns, and since two out of the five people in his squad seemed exhausted, it would be wise to catch a breather for a few minutes before continuing, just in case they ran in to any trouble along the way.

"Alright guys, lets stop here," said Shikamaru. All eyes were on him. Chouji and Sakura glanced at their leader. They had formed a couple of sweat beads on their foreheads. Being higher ranked shinobi, this amount of running was nothing to the other three. Just then, Naruto's kunais appeared and started orbiting around him.

"Yeah, I sense them too," he said, speaking to his kunais. Naruto looked over to Hinata, who was checking their surroundings with her byakugan.

"There's five of them, and they're close to us," she said, keeping her byakugan active. "Judging by their distance, they can make an attack and still be at a safe distance."

The entire squad formed a circle, all facing different directions. They prepared themselves into fighting stances as well as shinobi weapons in hand. Hinata continued to keep their pursuers in strict surveillance until they suddenly vanished. Hinata trailed her eyes around the field and caught glimmers and flashes of bodies, circling them. The Hyuuga smirked.

"They're going to attack, everyone, prepare yourselves," she said as from her blind spot, a couple of shuriken was thrown. Chouji pulled out his bo-staff and repelled them all. The five Konoha-nin vanished as if to match the speed of their pursuers. Swords, kunais, and shuriken, as well as flesh hitting flesh was heard throughout the forest. Naruto appeared in the face of one of the shinobi. His attacker aimed a quick jab at his face when one of his kunais appeared on his leg and cut his tendon, causing him to fall to the ground. Sakura channeled her chakra into her gloved hands and struck the ground with her powerful punch. Her comrades jumped, leaving a couple of her enemies to lose their footing and trip on the shattered ground below them.

"Ninppo: Baika no jutsu! (is that right?)" said Chouji as he expanded one of his hands and swung it across the forest, knocking out the rest of the shinobi.

"Ninppo: Kage mane no jutsu!" said Shikamaru as he binded them all into his shadow, and forced them to stand. Just as he let them go, Hinata appeared behind them

"Hyuuga secret art: Hakke hyaku nijuhachi sho!" shouted Hinata as she pierced ever single chakra point in their bodies, rendering them immobile. The shinobi all fell down, unable to move. Shikamaru walked over to them.

"Why did you attack us?" he said as he glanced at their forehead protectors, resembling the grass symbol. "Grass shinobi eh?" (sorry, I don't know the Japanese village name for the grass country)

"Go screw yourself, we don't need to answer to you or anyone else," said one of them as he glanced at Naruto, who had his arms crossed. The defeated grass shinobi had his eyes expanded. He had heard tales from his village about a hunter-nin from Konoha with black kunais revolving around him. Those who were said to see his face and live to tell the tale were legends. Shikamaru shifted his gaze at Naruto, who was glaring at the grass-nin like he was going to die. Hinata noticed this

"It was an accident, we didn't mean to. We were merely traveling to Konoha to speak with your Hokage. We just thought you guys were enemy shinobi and didn't take any chances," said a trembling grass-nin

"What's your business with Hokage-sama?" asked Chouji.

"It regards a shinobi that came from your village, seeing as though he had a Konoha forehead protector," he said, particularly looking at Naruto, who's back was turned but gave them his undivided attention. "A few days ago, several of our men went on a mission. When they came back, there was only one of them, and he had drool coming from his mouth. He looked very scared and kept muttering the same thing over and over again."

Naruto, interested, turned to him. "What did he say?"

"He kept saying the words 'three' 'Uchiha' and 'tengu' over and over again. Since the Uchiha clan is from Konoha, we were sent to speak to your Hokage about a shinobi that resided in her village that killed four of our gennin children," said the grass shinobi. Naruto shifted his glance to Sakura, who nodded, indicating that she knew what was going on.

"Alright, seeing as though you're not a threat to our village, we will let you go. I'll send one of my squad members back to report to the Hokage. Go back to your village," said Shikamaru. The young squad leader glanced to Hinata and Sakura and nodded to them. The two kunoichi bent down to the injured grass-nin and healed them in a few seconds. The grass-nin stood.

"That's fair enough. Just see to it that this problem will be dealt with," said the grass-nin.

"You have my word," he said as the grass-nins leaped away into the trees, vanishing from sight. Shikamaru turned to Chouji. He hated to have to do this but he told the grass-nin that he would take care of it. Naruto, probably being the most skilled out of the five and plus his kunais, was a valuable asset to the squad's survival and therefore was not included in his list to take back to the village. Hinata and Sakura were both very crucial as well, with their healing abilities, as well as Hinata's byakugan for extra surveillance. It was a sad fact, but Chouji had to be the one to be sent back to report to the Hokage.

"Chouji-kun," Shikamaru glanced at his best friend. Chouji looked up at him. "Will you do me a favor and report to the Hokage what the grass-nin told us? I have a hunch that's Sasuke."

Chouji was a bit hesitant for a while but agreed nonetheless. He had no choice anyway, since Shikamaru was the squad leader and what he says goes. Although he did not want to leave his best friend, he knew that he was no longer a gennin, but a chuunin, and had to act like one. Chouji nodded and turned the opposite direction, taking to the trees and vanishing from sight in a matter of seconds. Shikamaru looked at his remaining squad. It was evident that they formed a plan now, or they would be taken by surprise again later on. Perhaps using the a formation that he used while leading several missions with other fellow jounin and chuunin.

"Ok guys, now that we're one man down, we have to watch it a bit more. We'll need to travel in a formation to reduce the amount of chances for surprise attacks from surrounding enemies," he said as he turned to Naruto. "Naruto, due to your travels, you should know the layouts of these forests rather well. Also, because of your kunais' ability to sense danger, protect incoming attacks, and at the same time attacking any oncoming shinobi, I will place you in the front of our line."

Naruto nodded. Shikamaru then turned to Sakura.

"I will be behind Naruto. As the squad leader, I'll have to be in the best area to give out orders, and I need to have a little cover while I'm formulating my strategies. I'll place myself behind Naruto," said Shikamaru. So far so good.

"Sakura-san, due to your incredible strength, you will replace Chouji. Anyone that somehow gets passed Naruto, I'll rely on your strength to send them flying elsewhere. I'm placing you behind me," he said. Sakura nodded.

"Lastly, Hinata-sama, with your byakugan, you can see very far away from our current position. I would also like you to scan our surroundings and warn us if there is any danger in our blind spots. I'm placing you behind Sakura-san," he said. Hinata nodded as well. (sound familiar?)

When all of the positions had been assigned, Naruto took the first leap into the trees, followed by Shikamaru, Sakura, and Hinata. Naruto's kunais continued orbiting around him while being wary of any danger that their master might not sense. Hinata activated her byakugan, and began monitoring their surroundings. During her training with her father, she learned to surpass the fifty meter limit of the byakugan's vision limit and managed to increase it to a good one hundred meters, closely matching Neji's vision limit. Although nothing could be done about her blind spot, she also learned from Neji's rotation technique and applied that in combat, whenever her blind spot was being targeted. After several more hours of continued running, they decided to call it a day and camped out as the sun was beginning to set. They stopped at a clearing with a small freshwater lake for refilling their water supply and bathing if they wished.

"Naruto," said Shikamaru. "Do you think you can check how much farther we need to go before we pass the Konoha borders?"

Naruto nodded and took hold of two of his black kunais. He placed them right in front of his knees. The kunais remained still as Naruto stood on them. The other three were a bit curious at what he was about to do. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes like he'd done this sort of thing a million times, which he probably did during his travels around the continent or perhaps the whole world.

"Up," he commanded as his kunais started ascending upwards. Shikamaru formed an "o" on his lips. When Naruto arrived at a height that reached above the trees, his third kunai shielded his vision from the sun light. He started descending after a little while.

"I've gotta get me a set of those..." said Shikamaru, a hint of jealousy glowing in his voice.

"We're still very far from the Konoha borders, which means another day or two until we actually get to Sunagakure," he said as he jumped off of his kunais, returning them back into their special holsters.

"Well, it seems like we're spending the night here," said Shikamaru, his entire squad nodding in agreement. "Sakura-san, please go ahead and smash a tree and gather some necessary firewood."

Sakura did as she was told and walked off. Shikmaru then turned to Naruto.

"You do know some fire based jutsus from your travels, right?" Naruto nodded. "Good, then, you will help Sakura-san with making the fire. Afterwards, you will cook our dinner," Naruto nodded again and proceeded to follow Sakura.

"Hyuuga-sama, come with me. I spotted a nearby river a little bit away from here. I need you to use your byakugan and catch some fish for dinner. About ten or so will do, depending on their size," he said as Hinata nodded and followed him to the river.

After about a good fifteen minutes, the sun had already set. They all gathered near the lake (yes, there's a river and a lake). Sakura dropped the chunks of wood, that she collected from the tree that she smashed, onto the designated spot. Naruto formed the seal of the tiger and blew fire from his finger tips, and successfully started a pretty decent sized fire. Shikamaru took some of the smaller pieces of wood and skewered the fish into them. Hinata caught a total of ten fishes; six small ones, three medium ones, and one fairly large one. It actually took some of Sakura's strength to carry the large one, as it was the size of Chouji's father's body. Shikmaru explained that they would need that fish for later, if they get hungry during the way. Once all of the fish was cooked, they ate their fill, which surprisingly was only the small ones. Hinata formed chakra blades from her finger tips and sliced but the larger ones so they could wrap it on a large palm leaf that Naruto found. Shikamaru leaned on a tree and glanced at his commrades

"I'm going to turn in for the night. You're all grown ups so I'm not going to tell you to sleep. Turn in at anytime you wish, as long as you'll be ready to leave early in the morning. We leave as soon as dawn hits. Goodnight," said Shikamaru as he sat down and allowed his mind to rest. Hinata and Sakura gathered leaves from the trees to form their beds.

"Good night, Hyuuga-sama, Uzumaki-san," said Sakura as she went to sleep. Hinata was about to sleep as well when she noticed that Naruto wasn't even getting ready to sleep. Actually, he was just standing in front of the lake. Naruto took two of his kunais from his special holster.

"Stay with them, I'm going to take a walk for a little while, I'll be back later," he said as he threw one kunai to Hinata and the other near Sakura and Shikamaru. Hinata was awake through it all and watched as the kunai was falling to her figure. Before she could make a reaction to defend himself, the kunais stopped in mid-air and started revolving around the three of them. Before Naruto was able to get too far, Hinata got up from her position.

"Uzumaki-san, please wait," she called to him. Naruto turned around and saw Hinata. The kunai that he assigned to keep her safe returned to Naruto's holster along with his other one, seeing as though the purpose it was given was lost. The last kunai remained orbiting around Shikamaru and Sakura.

"Let me walk with you," she said. Naruto nodded as Hinata walked to him. The two Konoha-nin walked a bit away from their friends. After they reached a fair distance, Hinata looked up at Naruto. It was two years since she last saw him, and now he towered way above her height. He had grown in ways that she could only dream of. She had been doing some growing herself. Quite frankly, she was asked out on many dates by many of the male population of Konohagakure, all of which she politely declined. Hinata focused her white eyes on his.

"Uzumaki-san," she said, aiming to acquire his attention. The taller shinobi looked down to her.

"Yes, Hyuuga-sama?"

"Remember those times when we were still kids? When I would visit you in the hospital, or see you around the village?" she asked. Naruto absentmindedly nodded. Today was the day, the day she would spill her heart out to him.

"I want you to know that, back then, I had a really big crush on you," she said, feeling her cheeks flush red. Naruto casually looked at her.

"I know," he said. Hinata glanced at him in surprise.

"You knew? Then, why did you never tell me?"

"I wanted to know if you could get over your fears of being around me," said Naruto, earning a twitch from his companion. The blond hunter-nin grinned. "Actually, to be honest, ever since you were defeated by Neji in the preliminary round of the chuunin exams, my respect for you grew ten fold."

"I don't understand, Uzumaki-san. Why would you respect me for losing to my cousin?" she asked.

"It's not losing to your cousin that ignited my respect for you, it was your determination to go up against a stronger foe and not back down," he said. "All my life, I've never met anyone who was as stubborn and hard-headed like I was."

"To tell you the truth, Hyuuga-sama, I actually had a crush on you as well," he said, finally admitting it. Hinata's eyes went wide. Perhaps there really were some things that which Byakugan could not see through.

"I liked you too, Uzumaki-san, so why didn't you ever tell me?" she asked him, this time with a little more tone in her voice. "Do you know how I felt when you and Haruno-san were dating? When I saw it for myself one day, I was crushed."

Hinata was trying to hold her tears from escaping her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I never told you. It's just that, whenever you were near me, you would always faint. Whenever you fainted, I took that as a sign that I was at fault, like I had some sort of stench around me that always made you fall the the ground when you were around me. Do you know how I felt when you kept fainting while I was around? I felt like I had this plague that only affected you, and it was driving me insane."

Hinata continued to look at him. She still couldn't get it out of her mind that he had a crush on her. Like a ton of bricks, that revelation instantly told her something else. If he once liked her, maybe he would still like her today. Oh that was wishful thinking. He and Sakura were still probably dating, leaving her out of the picture. She remembered the the look on their face when the first kissed each other. It was the look of joy and peace. How she wished that she was Sakura, not knowing that Naruto no longer had feelings for said kunoichi. Hinata looked at him again, it was now or never.

"Do you think we could ever have a chance, Uzumaki-san?" she hopefully asked. Naruto stopped walking and looked down at her. If there was one thing he hated to do to anyone, especially his loved ones, it was to disappoint them.

"Perhaps, Hyuuga-san, but I gave up on love, a long time ago," he replied. Hinata felt chills go up her spine. Was she too late again? Hinata formed a fake smile to herself. She was too late again. "At first, I thought that someone like me could find love one day, but I was wrong. When I found it, it was short-lived. I loved her so much that I would have given her my whole heart, but she loved someone else behind my back. Ever since then, I never saw love the same way."

Naruto stopped to sit on the ground. Honestly, he was tired. Life just constantly battered him with seemingly impossible challenges that he was forced to somehow complete. He wanted to become Hokage one day, but that dream was too far out of reach because no one would like a leader that they hated. He wanted to be respected one day but that too was too far out of reach because no one could see passed what was inside him. Lastly, he wanted to start a family one day, but that was also out of his reach. The only one that he had ever loved so dearly, screwed him over. Ever since that very day, the blond had started having second thoughts on this feeling called love. Was it really as bright and warm as everyone said? Or was it just a lie from everyone, to get him curious enough to try it, only to have it blown up in his face. Hinata sat down next to him and examined his eyes. She saw something that she had never seen before. Naruto had definitely changed if she was seeing this thing that she never thought would even be possible for the blond. She saw the eyes of someone that just wanted to give up.

"Uzu--mm.. Naruto-kun," she corrected herself. Naruto glanced at her. Did she just call him Naruto-kun? "There is nothing in this world that isn't worth fighting for. I can see in your eyes that you have given up on love, but I can't say that I believe you. For as long as I have known you, it was your sole purpose to protect all of those that meant something to you. That is what gave you your strength. I know that isn't the form of love that you had imagined of one day having, but the feeling is just the same."

Naruto carefully examined her traits. It must have been something he ate in the morning. If not that, then what was this feeling inside his stomach? It was like a shaken can of soda that just wanted to be released. How could one person have stirred up the one thing in his heart that he thought was already sealed away? How could it only take two minutes for her to bring back these feelings that took him two years to bury? And lastly, why was it that this girl, gave him the same attractions that he felt from Sakura, all those years ago?

"Love isn't always a bad thing, Naruto-kun," she said as she stood up and looked ahead of her. "When people say that love is the strongest feeling in the world, they are both right and wrong. If you choose to set a plant aside and never give it a second chance, it will never grow into the beautiful flower that you had once envisioned. But if you give it a second chance, you'll see that not only will it blossom into something you've never seen before, but it will also surround you in happiness that you never thought possible."

"Hyu...Hinata-chan..." he said to her. Hinata smiled and looked down at him. "How can I find love when I've forgotten where to look?"

"Sometimes, you don't have to find love, Naruto-kun," she said, kneeling to him. "Sometimes, love will find you. Although it may not be in the form that you imagined, love can sometimes be even better than you ever thought possible."

"How do you know, Hinata-chan?" he asked.

"I know because I've experienced it before, and to this day, I can still feel it coursing through my body like a hurricane," she replied.

"He must be a lucky man, this guy that you're talking about," said Naruto, already feeling somewhat jealous.

"Perhaps," she said. "But it is I who should be considered lucky. This guy was someone I have always held at the highest of respect because he never gave up on his dreams. He says that he has but I know that he has only been steered into the wrong direction. I want to help him accomplish his dreams. If I can do at least that, then I can consider myself fortunate that he would even look at me."

"I want to meet this person," Naruto said excitedly. "If you hold him at such high regards, he sounds like someone that could help point me in the right direction. Although I've forgotten how to love, I want to experience it again."

Hinata giggled. "You have no need to meet this person, Naruto-kun, as you are both very much alike."

"I see, but it would still be cool if I could meet him."

"As I said before," she repeated. "You have no need to meet him, because... he is you, Naruto-kun."

Naruto raised his eyebrows. Why Hinata held him at such high regards, he would never understand, but perhaps this was a good thing. The blond started to feel something. His heart, it was beating inside his chest. He could also hear Hinata's heart beating fiercely inside her chest. At a point in that moment, he could hear both of their hearts beating as one. The hunter-nin tried to recall but couldn't remember love feeling like this. This whole new sensation, this vivid illumination, was this what he kept sealed inside his soul? The fool that he was. How could he have kept a feeling like this sealed away for so long? He felt like he could take on the entire world, as long as this feeling remained with him. Why had he not felt this way around Sakura when they were dating? This feeling was enough to soar him through the heavens itself.

"Naruto-kun, ever since I met you, I felt this experience that you and I are both feeling right now. I worked to the best of my ability, just to get you to notice me. I thought that if I could become strong like you, that you would one day notice me," she said, a tear falling from her eyes. "When you left for two years, I made it my sole purpose to train as hard as my human capabilities allowed me to, so when you returned, you would notice--" she was then interrupted by Naruto.

"That's enough Hinata-chan," said Naruto. "Whatever methods you used to get me to notice you, it worked, but I'm sad that I've only noticed you now. You become so beautiful and so powerful through my absence but you never lost your gentle and caring attitude. You have the power to make a mountain crumble, yet you would never harm something as inanimate as a piece of rubble. You are so amazingly powerful but you never once let it get to you or bring people down just because you're stronger and I'm wondering why to myself, why I've never noticed this before."

"Noticed... what...?"

"This part of love. I know I gave up on it a few years ago, but maybe it was this feeling that I forgot about. I was so fixated with the darker parts of it and the horrible memories it gave me that I guess that's all I learned to see. You helped me realize that love is full of all sorts of things, and maybe it isn't too late for me yet," he said sincerely. Hinata looked at him, unsure what else to say.

"I'm glad that you feel that way, Naruto-kun."

"You've helped me see what I've been missing all these years, but unfortunately, I can't give you what you or I wish to have," he eyed her. Hinata slightly changed her facial expression. The Hyuuga felt very sad that her attempt to get him to fall in love with her had failed.

"Because of you, I don't have to be afraid of falling in love again, but not here. This is a very important mission, Hyuuga-sama, and we must not let our personal affections intrude with the overall results of this assignment," he said. "It's important to all of us that you don't tell me those words that you have probably been longing to tell me since our childhood years, or our affections might get us killed. If we die, as you stated before, we might never get the chance to bloom into the beautiful flowers that we are destined to become."

Hinata nodded at his logic, it made sense after all. For now, during this mission and until it was finished, they would remain comrades. By his words and how he was reacting, she could tell that he at least noticed her a little further than what he had said earlier. Even after all of this, there was still that small percentage of a chance that he could fall in love with Sakura again. Though the Hyuuga princess had no ill will towards the Cherry Blossom assassin, she had her chance, to it was high time that she let Naruto go to someone else who actually deserved him. Hinata made a mental note to herself to watch over the blond whenever he was around Sakura.

Naruto stood and turned around.

"Let's go, we need our rest for tomorrow," he said as he started walking away. Hinata nodded and followed him.

* * *

Ello, I think this is my longest chapter so far, what do you think? Anyway, this chapter is dedicated to KingKakashi, who inspired me to make these changes in the story. If any of you have problems or issues with the pairings, blame it on me, not him. Again, thanks kingkakashi for your views and inputs. 

xxEDITxx--- thanks uzukun7 for pointing out a little flaw I had in the end. I'll remember next time to slow down on the admitting feelings and acceptance part.

xxEDITxx (2) --- I've decided that Naruto shouldn't have a lover until later, as in way later. The pairing will remain NaruSaku, cross my heart hope to die, I swear I'll never lie (on this story anyway ), or stick a needle in my eye.

Odama Rasendori


	9. Chapter 9

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED

Chapter 9

* * *

It wasn't until several minutes later when Naruto and Hinata returned to the camping grounds. Naruto held his hand out and retrieved the kunai, that revolved around Sakura and Shikamaru, and placed all it back with the other two inside his special holster. Naruto found a tree fairly close by and leaned on it. After he was in a comfortable enough position, he formed several hand seals. After the sequence of hand seals, a swirl of leaves gathered beside him, forming a life size leaf blanket. He pulled the leaf blanket over his body and closed his eyes. His kunais emerged from his holster and revolved slightly above his sleeping figure. Hinata took a spot near Naruto and lay herself down. Even though the blond was perfectly capable of handling himself, she made it her sworn duty to protect him, not only from danger, but from Sakura. The Hyuuga princess remembered how badly Naruto was hurt when he was still dating Sakura, and pledged to herself that it wouldn't happen again. His special kunais were extremely powerful, but even those things wouldn't be able to protect him from something as powerful as lies and deceit. Hinata closed her eyes and joined her comrades in a peaceful slumber.

-------------

At the first break of daylight, the birds started chirping. Sakura was the first to stir and eventually wake up. It was weird though, since it was Shikamaru who went to sleep first. The pink chuunin fully opened her eyes and saw Naruto next to her. When she stood up, she saw Hinata laying in between her and Naruto. The last thing she could remember was going to sleep and vaguely seeing the both of them walking away from the squad. Sakura pondered on what they did or what they talked about. Sakura turned around completely and walked to the lake. She knelt down and washed her still weary face with the bright, bluish, clean water. After washing her face, she looked at herself through the reflection of the lake. Although her appearance had grown different, she was still that same little girl that was deeply in love with Naruto. Sakura shook her head, this was a mission, their lives were at stake, and love can always be set aside for later.

"I guess it's time to pack up, we have a long few days ahead of us," she said to herself as she stood. Sakura moved to her comrades to awaken them and continue their mission.

A few minutes later, Shikamaru and the entire squad was fully awake and already preparing to depart to continue their mission. Hinata constantly found herself throwing glances at the blond, who was cleaning up and packing what needed to be ready for the mission. Shikamaru noticed it and knew that it had to stop. He too had a relationship going on but it would never be known during a mission. What his friend was doing would get her, and possibly the entire squad, killed... well maybe not Naruto with his kunais and all, but Hinata would be putting her life at risk. The lazy genius gave it a little more thought. Come to think of it, Naruto would protect her with his life just because that's the kind of guy that he is, speaking of who, would almost never be in danger because of his fairly large and magical kunais. Perhaps it wasn't such a bad idea for her to show any public displays of affection, but this was a mission and they were professionals, no longer gennin, no longer children.

Shikamaru as he approached the Hinata. Naruto and Sakura took a quick glance at their squad member and leader, before returning to their appropriate tasks.

"You've got to stop this. I understand that you've had these feelings for him but don't do it here, this is a mission," he said, lecturing her Hinata sighed, he was right. "Please act more like a grown up and tend to your affections elsewhere."

The young woman nodded. Shikamaru returned to what he was doing, as did Hinata. While Naruto packed up the extra food that they saved from the other night, he couldn't help but twitch at the fact that he was taking orders from someone lower than him. But oh well, its not like he cared anyway. Tsunade gave the pineapple head authorization to bark off orders and that was good enough for the blond. When everything was ready and packed, Sakura carried the food and Shikamaru carried the water. Naruto led the way as he took to the trees, with his comrades closely behind him. It would take a pretty long while for them to reach Suna, and with all the materials that they were carrying, Shikamaru hoped that they would evade any sort of trouble. Several hours later, they were still running, no words were spoken, and Hinata was actually not glancing at Naruto. It was a good thing though that Shikamaru placed her in a good order or she probably would be doing something that would slow everyone down.

Sakura eyed Hinata carefully. Whatever it was that happened last night, it must have stirred Hinata's feelings for Naruto again. Naruto didn't seem like he was responding to it, but he should be able to sense it at the very least. Ever since Naruto's departure five years ago, Hinata had been training nonstop, only to get stronger. Shortly after his leave, she was able to take down either Shino or Kiba, and even hold her own for a while against the both of them combined. It was like she had a one track mind, and that was to become stronger and stronger so that Naruto would notice her, it was all she even talked about when she and the other girls had girls night outs. Sakura was sure that Hinata was much more powerful than she was, and that's not even considering their ranks as kunoichi. Hinata had indeed grown more powerful than her youthful counterpart and wasn't the right person to mess with. The pink haired chuunin decided to not let it get to her and to focus on the mission. Even though they were all professionals, anything could go wrong with a mission like this, especially since they were one man short.

-------------

"Is that so?" said Tsunade, carefully examining Chouji. "You have a hunch that it was Sasuke that attacked those grass-nin?"

Chouji nodded.

"Very well," she nodded as well. "Go home and get some rest. I'll think about this a little more."

"But Tsunade-sama," said Chouji. "Can I go back to Shikamaru and the others? They might need me."

"No Chouji, it's too dangerous. By now, they should have made it passed the Konoha border, that's way too far for you to follow," she told him. "Besides, if you go alone, you'll be vulnerable to any shinobi attack that may come your way. Trust me though, nothing will happen to them."

It wasn't easy for him but Chouji nodded. He didn't want to leave his friends but he had to follow what Hokage-sama said. Chouji bowed and walked out of the room to leave Tsunade to ponder on her decision. Tsunade stood up from her seat and started pacing around the room. If Sasuke had returned, why attack some grass-nin? Grass shinobi aren't particularly known for their taijutsu or ninjutsu, though they did have very good genjutsu. But to a Sharingan user, genjutsu is just a waste of chakra. Tsunade walked a little while longer until she noticed a presence enter the room from her window. The blond Hokage scoffed and turned to the visitor.

"Don't you ever knock, Jiraiya?" asked Hinata. "Seriously, I could be dressing up you know."

The frog hermit laughed. "That would only be a bonus, now wouldn't?"

"Won't you ever learn...?" she frowned. "By the way, did you find out anything new?"

Suddenly, Jiraiya became all serious. The hermit crossed his arms over his chest.

"Yeah, Akatsuki's on the move again. Apparently, it seems to me that Itachi wants Sasuke to awaken his Mangekyo Sharingan," he said. Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"How? With Naruto's kunais, not even Sasuke's chidori can touch him, but Itachi must know this by now, so how?"

"I don't know, but you're right, Itachi must more or less know about Naruto's little treasures so he must've taught Sasuke a jutsu that can disable such a powerful defense. It might be a long shot, but maybe, just maybe, Sasuke might have a chance," the hermit replied, looking more and more serious by the minute.

"Hardly, you forget that Naruto, even on his own, is still a powerful force to be reckoned with," she said, knowing what the blond young man was capable of. "In any case, you ran across him during your travels right?"

"Yeah. I was grabbing my bottle of sake when I saw him browsing around for a shuriken store. I pointed him in the right direction and even taught him a new jutsu."

"Oh?" Tsunade said, surprised. "What jutsu?"

"My favorite jutsu from my diseased yet favorite student," he said, eyes sparkling.

"And how would that help him?" Jiraiya closed his eyes and smiled proudly.

"He's a smart kid, he'll know what to do."

"I hope you're right," said Tsunade as she looked out to the village through her window.

-------------

After a few days of travel, Shikamaru's squad had finally made it to Sunagakure with little trouble. Sure there were those grass-nin from before and some bandits after that but it wasn't anything that proved too much of a challenge for them. The bandits were pretty sneaky though, as they almost got away with their food, had it not been for Shikamaru's shadow jutsus. Although they weren't at the actual village yet, and just at the mountain cliffs, it was quite an accomplishment. They looked out into the sandy village. It was incredible how the people here lived in this kind of climate, with frequent sand storms forming all throughout the village, and still do their everyday businesses. Naruto sighed and glanced at the envelope in Shikamaru's pocket. What in the world was so important about that envelope that made Tsunade stressed out about its secrecy to anyone's eyes but the Kazekage's? Well, whatever it was, they would soon find out.

"Whew, I'm beat," said Naruto as he pulled out one of his black kunais and allowed it to float behind his head. The blond crossed his arms over his head and leaned on the chunk of metal. It wasn't the most comfortable thing to lean on for most people, but Naruto had gotten used to that over the years. In fact, he would sometimes sleep on them, when he felt like it. Since they were larger than other kunais, it seemed fitting for him to be able to do certain things with them.

"Hey Naruto," said Shikamaru. Naruto glanced to his friend. "Can ya let me lean on one of those? I can use a little break."

Naruto took out a black kunai and was about to set it up for Shikamaru when his neck shifted to Hinata's voice.

"There's something coming at us, and its coming fast," she said as everyone, except Naruto, got into their fighting stances. Two medium sized sand pillars were coming their way. Before it even came close, the kunais in Naruto's hand and holster appeared behind him, who was still leaning on his third kunai while looking out into the sky, and started spinning like wheels. The two kunais spun in rapid motion as they sliced the two pillars of sand in half, the halves split into two directions each. Finally, Naruto turned around and leaned on his kunai using his chin, allowing his arms to slump down from his shoulders.

"Now what...?" he wondered as three Suna-nin came out of hiding.

"Konoha-nin?" asked one of the shinobi as his eyes widened. The same shinobi gasped. "Oh my gosh, you guys must be Konoha's envoy shinobi, we're very sorry."

"Is anyone else but me completely weirded out around here?" Naruto lazily spoke.

"If you four were sent to deliver the treaty response, please follow us," said the shinobi.

"A treaty? Is that what this is about?" said Sakura. "If it's just a treaty, then why wouldn't Tsunade-sama let us see what was inside it?"

The four Konoha-nin approached the Suna-nin. "If you asked me," said one of them. "Your Hokage-sama still owes Kazekage-sama some money from their last Kage poker night," said the Suna-nin.

Shikamaru formed a beat of sweat from his temples. To tell the truth, the envelope, which should have only contained a sheet of parchment,was amazingly heavier than it should have been. Perhaps the Suna-nin were right. The lazy genius sighed. Kage poker night? Just how much money did Konoha owe the other Kage's anyway? Considering her hellish misfortune when it comes to gambling, it was safe to say that Konoha was probably in debt to the other villages, or at least Suna only. Maybe that was why there was a treaty going on, to prevent the angry Suna-nin from waging war on the innocent Konoha-nin for the mistakes of their village leader. Shikamaru pinched the top of his nose to prevent himself from getting a headache. They were serving under a leader with horrible luck. Hopefully, for the entire village's sake, that bad luck wouldn't spread to them like a virus. If such a thing happened, everyone would want a set of Naruto's kunais for the mobs of people that they would have to run away from due to large debts and owes.

Speaking of headaches, two others were getting some serious ones. After being instated as the Kazekage, Gaara had Temari and Kankuro around as body guards. Although they protested, saying that he had enough body guards from the sand shield that he possessed, Gaara, in truth, just wanted to have his only family close to him at all times. Perhaps it was his way of atoning to them for the horrible things that he put them through. But, this wasn't one of those days that Temari or Kankuro felt like hanging out with their Kazekage brother. Sure it had its perks, such as getting free things from certain places here and there, but what Gaara was doing was really starting to irritate them both to no end. Finally, Kankuro couldn't take it anymore. His head was throbbing from the six hours of Gaara playing with his new toy.

"Gaara, will you stop this madness already?!" Kankuro shouted out. Temari sighed, at least it wasn't her that would hear the end of it. Frankly, she'd been wanting Gaara to stop playing with his toy ever since he started with it. Gaara looked at his brother and then back at his toy.

"It's not madness, it's actually quite entertaining," he said, glancing at his siblings, who looked like they were both ready to skin him alive.

"Can you at least do it somewhere else?" said Temari, also cracking to the pressure.

"Perhaps, but I really don't feel like it. This thing is so captivating," he said as he eyed his toy going up and down.

"Can you at least tell me what it's called? That way, I can tell our people to stop buying those," said Kankuro. Gaara gave it some thought and put his free hand on his chin. He looked up his ceiling as if trying to remember what the name of his toy was. After a few seconds, the red-head glanced at his older brother.

"I believe the westerners called it a... yo-yo?" he replied as he rolled the circular object to the floor, allowing it to roll forward a few inches. "I think that's what they called, walk the dog."

Kankuro placed his hands on his head.

"It's getting infuriating, Gaara!" he said, but the Kazekage wouldn't stop. Just as they were about to go completely insane, there was a knock on the door. Temari stood from her chair and opened it, revealing three Suna-shinobi and four Konoha-shinobi, one of them being her most favorite person in the world.

"Shika-kun!" she cried out as she enveloped him in a tight embrace. "Save me from my brother, please!"

"Me too!!" said Kankuro as he joined her in the embrace. Shikamaru slightly pushed them out of the way.

"Ugh, what in the world?" he said as he saw Gaara aimlessly spaced out while placing with a circular rolling object. The red-head looked up at his visitors and waved.

"Hello, are you guys here for the treaty?" he said, finally halting the movements of his yo-yo.

"Yeah, and it took us a while to get here too," said Naruto as Shikamaru approached Gaara and handed him the envelope in his pocket. Gaara opened the envelope and pulled out a nicely decorated paper. Instead of dealing with it right away though, he just placed it aside and pulled out the money inside. Gaara flipped through the money and smiled.

"Sweet..." he chided, like a child. "Now I have enough to buy that new GX-3000 deluxe yo-yo, and it has sounds!"

"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Temari and Kankuro cried out in unison as they collapsed to the ground and cried in misery.

"Um, I mean no disrespect, Kazekage-sama," said Sakura. "But what about the treaty?"

Gaara looked up at his visitors, almost forgetting that they were even there.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'll tend to that later. You all seem tired though, from your long journey here and what not," he said. He had a point though, Sakura was pretty hungry herself and wasn't in the mood for more fish. "Please, stay at our hotel for a while. I'll send a messenger to Konoha immediately, telling them the current events of this mission."

Naruto glanced at Sakura. Maybe a break was in order? Shikamaru shrugged. Well, what the heck, at least he could spend time with Temari. Being in different villages, he and Temari could get almost no time together, also with missions and obligations to their village. Even through it all, they somehow always found time to see each other and spend some quality time. Shikamaru helped his girlfriend up as well as Kankuro. He looked at Temari's wonderful blue eyes (they ARE blue right?). Perhaps a date or something of the sort was long overdue. The lazy genius examined her eyes. She was definitely stressed. He had to get her out of here. Though he didn't show it, he really did care a lot about the wind mistress. Shikamaru then glanced at Gaara, who was still counting the money as well imagining possibilities with his new toy.

"We accept your hospitality, Kazekage-sama," he said. Gaara looked at him.

"It's settled then," he said as he looked to Kankuro and Temari. "Go ahead and take them to that new red hotel that I had constructed a few months ago."

"Okay," said the sand siblings as they walked away with the Konoha-nin.

-------------

The six shinobi arrived at a very nice looking hotel. The building itself was as red as Gaara's hair. When they stepped inside, the Konoha-nins formed an "o" on their mouths. The inside of the hotel was very well decorated with appliances and furniture from all over the country, and some from even out of the country. To tell the truth, it looked very... oh what's the word... westerny? It seemed as though Gaara had a thing for items from the west. There were Sony flat screen televisions in the lobby, a red carpet, an old fashioned clock hanging on the wall, and various other gadgets found in the west, or to be exact, from the United States. Temari and Kankuro approached the lady behind the receptions desk. After a few seconds of conversation, the receptionist handed them a pair of keys. The sand siblings returned to their guests and showed them to their rooms.

"This will be your room, Naruto and Shikamaru," said Kankuro as he showed them to a very fancy looking suite. To make things short, it looked like a five star hotel room. Naruto and Shikamaru gaped at their room. They could really get used to something like this.

"This will be your room, Hinata and Sakura," said Temari as she showed them to a room that was equally as fancy as the boy's room, except with a slight dash of feminine touches. Sakura plopped on the bed. It was very comfortable. Hinata made her way to a cushion. It too was very comfortable.

After getting settled, Temari went to visit the boys room, and saw Naruto and Shikamaru playing tic-tac-toe. She leaned on the doorway and crossed her arms over her chest. It took both men a bit of time to notice that she was even there, as they were both really into their tic-tac-toe game. Shikamaru made one final move which resulted in a draw with Naruto.

"Ready to go yet, Shika-kun?" asked Temari.

"Yeah, lets go," said Shikamaru as he stood up and walked to Temari and left the building. A minute later, Hinata walked in the door scanning the room for Naruto. Naruto was found sitting on the floor, looking aimlessly at the ceiling.

"Naruto-kun, wanna grab a bit outside? I'm starving," she said. Even at the sound of food, Naruto didn't budge. Hinata approached him and narrowed her eyes. A moment later, she realized something. Naruto poofed away into a puff of smoke and revealed a log in his place.

"Substitution? Then where could he be?" she asked herself as she left the room. Hinata activated her Byakugan and noticed that Naruto wasn't even in the building. The Hyuuga deactivated her bloodline limit and exited the building, hoping to find him.

While all of her friends were out doing something fun or exciting, Sakura stayed back in her room, combing her hair. It wasn't something she wanted to do, just that, there wasn't much to do at all. Ever since breaking up with Naruto, she started to relish those days that she went on dates with him. Maybe a good nap would suffice, and get rid of all the misery and what not. Sakura placed her comb away to the side and lay down on her bed. Oh what the heck, go let them have their fun. The pink haired chuunin closed her eyes slowly, sleep starting to overtake her. She wondered how her life could have been like if she admitted her true feelings to Naruto, before he and Hinata had their little talk several nights ago with an unknown event happening that resulted the Hyuuga to take interest in him again. Perhaps it was a selfish thought but she felt as though she deserved him more, because she knew him better. It wasn't a totally bad feeling right? Ok maybe it was but still, it didn't hurt to dream right?

Just before she was about to fall asleep, Sakura forced her eyes open. This was Sunagakure for goodness sake. There should be something to do, even though she was by herself. It would seem quite lonely and all but maybe a good tour around the village would be in her best interest, seeing as though Suna and Konoha were going to be allies soon anyway. Sakura nodded at her thoughts and got out of bed and put her shoes on (sandals, slippers, or whatever they are). After they were nice and fastened, Sakura left the building and headed outside. The air in Suna wasn't the best, considering all the sand, but it wasn't bad either. The place could use more trees for better breathing purposes but it wasn't bad considering there were no trees in Suna. Putting the tree thing out of her mind, Sakura decided to look around. There were several interesting things in Suna that Konoha didn't have, as she heard from Temari, a couple of years ago. Deciding that she hadn't had a bite to eat since breakfast, Sakura started looking for the nearest food stand. A few minutes later, the chuunin spotted a... ramen shop? Sakura entered the shop and immediately called out an order, not realizing that she had company.

"Sakura-chan?" said the customer next to her. Sakura flinched. It wasn't Shikamaru and Temari on a date or something, was it? The last thing she wanted to do now was to ruin their together time with her presence. Opting to make sure who's voice it was, Sakura turned to her right and was surprised to see...

"Lee?" she asked him. Lee smiled at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I guess my intentions have already been forgotten," Lee said casually. "Don't you remember that I left for a four year training leave?"

Sakura thought about it for a moment. The last time she had seen the Konoha-chuunin was indeed four years ago. Then, did that mean that he was returning this year? It had been so long since she had seen him. Lee had grown quite a bit since their last meeting. He had actually changed his hairstyle back to the way it was before he decided on trying to look like Maito Guy, in which scenario he succeeded quite well on. Another change was the spandex that he used to wear but no longer had on. It was replaced with the regular navy black overall that normal Konoha chuunin or jounin would wear, on top of which was his old vest. The biggest change seemed to be his eyebrows, which were no longer fuzzy looking. That meant Naruto couldn't call him bushy-brow anymore.

"Yes, Lee, I remember that day. By the way, look at you, you've changed so much since we last saw each other," said Sakura, impressed at his change.

"Yeah, I'll go in order then. I changed my hair back to my old style when I remembered Guy-sensei telling me to follow my own path as a shinobi. I didn't know what he was talking about since I knew damn well that he knew what my shinobi way was. He told me that he didn't want me to look like him while I followed my dream, or else it would seem he was living my dream, and he didn't want any of it. Next, my spandex. I guess I'm not wearing it anymore because of the same reason as my hair. Plus, it was getting too small for me. Lastly, my eyebrows. Again, it's the same reason as my hair, plus, they were really getting long and when I saw my reflection at a lake, I just freaked out and instantly knew why not many girls wouldn't go out with me," he said.

"That's not true Lee, lot's of girls would have gone out with you," she told him, not exactly believing her own words.

"Oh yeah," he mocked. "You're living proof of that."

Sakura caught the sarcasm tone and thought about what he said. She didn't accept his requests to go out with him only because she was still in love with Sasuke or Naruto, at the time. What he said about his eyebrows was true though, that was the other reason why she didn't date him. Besides those two lame reasons especially the Sasuke part, she wondered why she never gave the man a chance. Lee reminded her greatly of Naruto, wanting to work hard to be the best that he could be even though he wasn't capable of performing ninjutsu or genjutsu. Speaking of Naruto, she wondered how and what he was doing. Even though it wasn't her business anymore, she was still concerned for him. Perhaps that was a part of her that never really disappeared when she made the biggest mistake of her life. Lee noticed her spacing out and waved his hand in front of her.

"Sakura-chan, are you in there?" he asked. Sakura shook herself awake and glanced at him. "Oh good, I thought you started daydreaming back there."

"Hehehe, sorry," she giggled. "I guess I sort of did, back there."

Before any other comment was made, Sakura's ramen was delivered to her, fresh and steaming hot. She was about to eat when she noticed that Lee didn't have any food in front of him. Ok... he's in a small food stand and there's no food in front of him? Was he here for a different reason. Too busy in such thoughts, Sakura didn't notice that Lee was just staring at her, his eyes moving all around her face. Maybe he was seeing how much of her had changed over the years? Fair enough, she did that to him as well. What got her a bit disturbed was when Lee slowly formed a grin on his mouth. Now this was getting creepy.

"Lee? What are you smiling about?" she asked, putting her chopsticks down. It was now Lee's turn to shake himself awake.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I must have been daydreaming," he said, almost mimicking her exact same words. Sakura narrowed her eyes at him.

"While staring at me?"

Lee flushed and started waving his hands in front of his face.

"No no no, my eyes just stopped at where they were, I guess," he said, saving himself from a very bad mistake.

"I see," she replied with a nod. "So, where's your food? When I saw you here, you didn't have anything in front of you."

Lee grinned wider.

"That's because I ordered the deluxe and it's taking a while for it to get ready. I believe it's been about twenty minutes now, since I ordered the thing," he said as he pointed at the last box on the lower right corner of the ramen menu in front of him. Sakura got a good look, her jaw dropped instantly. The order was a very large bowl full of ramen, soup, and a lot of vegetables. Apart from the green food, she was sure Naruto would have loved to get a bite of that. After another five minutes of nonsense chatting, the chef brought Lee a massive bowl full of ramen. Sakura winced, she was sure that the bowl was at least five times larger than the bowl of ramen that she just ordered.

"Uh.. Lee, are you sure you can finish that?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh yes, this is just a little snack," he said as he grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started eating. "After this meal though, do you wish to join my training session?"

Sakura nodded almost immediately. Finally, something to do around here.

"Yeah, I'd love to," she said as she too grabbed a pair of chopsticks and started eating. The chef crossed his arms over his chest as he watched the two scarf down the ramen that he worked so hard to cook. It wasn't that he was complaining or anything, it was just that, the two Konoha-nin were finishing in seconds what took him quite a bit of time to accomplish cooking. He looked especially to the black haired guy. That was his largest bowl full of a mixture of several flavors of ramen, and the guy already finished about half of it. The chef glanced at the female now. Her bowl was nothing compared to the guy next to her but it was still a fairly big bowl, and she was almost done with it. The ramen chef wondered where these people put it all and started considering the fact that Konoha-nin had black holes for stomachs. A minute later, Lee and Sakura finished their bowls at the same time. The chef was caught gawking at them.

"Ahhh... that was some snack!" said Lee, rubbing his belly, which surprisingly was not big at all. Sakura glanced at her comrade, where did he put it all? They finished at about the exact same time and his bowl was huge compared to hers. "Well, shall we get started on that training session, Sakura-chan?"

"Yeah, lets go," she said as they both stormed out of the ramen stand, leaving money for their meals. The chef looked at the small heap of money on his counter but that wasn't really what surprised him. He looked onward and could no longer see the Konoha-nin. The chef shook his head as he took the money and cleaned up the mess.

* * *

So, how'd you guys like that chapter? I finally found out who to put Sakura with. I don't know if Lee is the best guy for her but we'll see what this brain of mine has in store for the two. Oh and by the way, I apologize to all of you action/adventure readers but I've been neglecting the romance half of this story for a while and I do think that the next chapter should be devoted to romance only, NaruxHina and LeexSakura centered. Then again, my mind could change depending on what you guys think. When you guys review or if you guys review, vote on whether the next chapter should be adventure or romance. Bye bye for now! 

Oh and I would like to thank KingKakashi again for his continued help with my story. If not for him, I would have just given up on this story and probably just write another one, but he urged me to keep going.

Odama Rasendori


	10. Chapter 10

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED

Hello everyone, through the past chapters, you guys have been giving me a hand with this story. I want to especially thank kingkakashi and uzukun7 for their help on a few chapters back. If any of you have and comments to add in to improve my story, just send them in, and I'll consider them. If they're good ideas or inputs, I'll use them and post anyone's name on the next chapter who gave me the idea. Now that that's done, I want to get into the first three flames of this story.

To all of you guys that are still considering on spending some of your precious time on my story, I promise that I will try to continue to make each chapter better than the last. I've gone over my story notes and am now fully aware of the outcome of this story, and will no longer make the crucial mistakes that I've made in the previous chapters. However, I might make the occasional grammar or spelling error, since I write my chapters on and not on any Word program, which I should consider in getting. Again, thank you to those who are continuing to read my story, and as I said before, well not in exact words but, I won't let you down.

xxEDITxx--- since I don't really watch the Japanese series of Naruto anymore, I no longer have the knowledge of the Japanese names for certain jutsus and will now use English names for them. I will also make up some jutsus of my own, lol. Also, you may notice a few manga related actions or speeches that the characters here say. My friends read the manga, I don't, so I use them as sources, but not all the time.

xxEDITxx (2) ---READ THIS--- For those of you that has had the patience with me, I'm continuing with this story. Forget those damn notes I found, as I shredded and burned them. It wasn't fair to any of you that I changed the pairings of this story in the middle and I'll do my best to repent for it by continuing the NaruSaku theme. I've learned a lot in the time that this story wasn't updated, and I'll use that to make each and every one of you proud.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its related things. Mm... haven't done that in a while.

Chapter 10

* * *

The Kazekage of Sunagakure took a quick glance at his desk, full of paperwork that his secretary had delivered a couple of hours ago. He had just left for a few minutes to purchase his new yo-yo and returned to his office. Upon arrival, he caught his secretary and two others, carrying a huge load of paperwork that needed his approval. Gaara looked through each one of them with his writing hand, while his other hand was occupied with his yo-yo. It seemed to be a daily thing for him to skim through some paperwork and sign his signature on the bottom. After clearing one pile, the Kazekage stood up and stretched his back as he rolled up his toy and put it to the side. It was nearing sundown and he wasn't even halfway done with the blasted paperwork. There was always the option of shredding them and telling his secretary that the wind blew them away. Of course, people would have to notice a whole mess of papers on the floor. Gaara sighed as he glanced at his window and looked over his village. He hoped that his guests were having more fun than he was. 

Naruto returned to his room, several hours later. He made that substitution earlier, in order to play a game with anyone who would notice it. Hinata found him about an hour later and played tag for a few minutes. She was called in by the Kazekage sometime ago and hadn't been seen since. The blond hunter-nin sat down on his bed and collapsed, wondering when they would be ready to return to their village. He really missed the taste of Teuchi-ojisan's ramen. He met up with Sakura and surprisingly, Lee, a while ago and pointed him to a ramen stand. It was good stuff but it could never compare to Teuchi-ojisan's ramen. Teuchi's stuff was the best and will always be. Naruto was about to close his eyes, seeking a bit of rest, when he heard footsteps coming from the door. He sat up quickly, as the door opened, revealing Hinata. The Hyuuga glanced at him and pulled out a stool to sit on.

"So, what did Kazekage-sama ask of you?" asked Naruto. Hinata sneered at him and gave him a facial expression that clearly stated, 'I don't want to talk about it.'

"Oh come on, it can't be that bad. What was it, paperwork?" he pondered. Hinata glared at the blond.

"That red-head of a leader, asked me to help him make a so called "very important decision that could very well mean the survival of Sunagakure," she said annoyingly. Naruto raised his eyebrow at her. He could it was sarcasm, but he was now curious of what it was exactly that Gaara wanted.

"What did he want then?"

"He wanted me to help him choose... which damn yo-yo to spend his accursed money on," said Hinata. Naruto deadpanned. Out of all the possible things that it could have been, Gaara asked her to do that? But then again, a choice like that couldn't have taken her a span of hours to decide, as she wasn't much of a yo-yo fan herself.

"Then, why did it take so long for you to return?" he asked.

"Every time I chose one, he would ridicule it and list its pros and cons. We ended up going through the entire toy store, just to choose that whatsitcalled yo-yo that he stated earlier today. Seriously, why didn't he just get that one and dismissed me... what a guy huh?" said an extremely annoyed Hinata. Naruto nodded. Even though Gaara was a kage now, he should learn to act like one and stop being so childish. Hinata stood from her stool and pushed it away, and started pacing back and forth from the left side of the room, to the right.

"So how did your day go?" she asked.

"Didn't do much, really," he said. "All I really did was watch Haruno-san and Lee-san train. I don't know why, but those two really look good together. Don't you think so?" He asked. Hinata nodded, mostly just to stop Naruto from heading into that direction. Maybe this was a good development. If Sakura would fall in love with Lee, she wouldn't have to worry about her going out with Naruto again. Lee hadn't been back for a while and surely would have changed a lot. If Sakura was still that lovesick fool that chose looks over personality, maybe she might fall for that bushy-browed guy. Hinata looked up to the ceiling. Come to think of it, she hadn't really seen Lee in a while, so maybe it was too early to be making these judgments. The Hyuuga made a mental note to herself to get a good look of Lee, whenever she got the chance to do so.

Just as she continued to plan her next moves, the door behind her swung wide open. Hinata continued to stand where she was.

'Oh how I wish they would have knocked,' Hinata thought to herself as she turned her body to face her visitors. Temari stopped her giggling as she noticed what her boyfriend's fellow comrades were doing. No longer hearing Temari laughing, Shikamaru opened his eyes to see Hinata and Naruto having some "tongue twisting" action. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Uhm, I'm sorry to intrude but, were we bothering you?" Temari asked. Hinata smiled.

"Not at all," said Hinata. "Uzumaki-san and I were just talking about how our day went today. Would have been nice though if you guys knocked. By the way, what's with the laughing, Temari-san? Is there something that you would like to tell us?"

"Yeah, seriously Nara-sama, you and Temari-san could have knocked. I heard you guys from outside, but it would have been polite if at least one of you decided to stretch out your arms and knock on that door," said Naruto.

"Oh give it a rest, will ya Naruto?" said Shikamaru, who was definitely not in a good mood. "This is my room too."

The blond hunter-nin cocked up an eyebrow.

"Woah, chill out. What bit you in the ass and lived to tell the tale?" asked Naruto.

"Aw... Shika-kun is still mad at losing that poker game," Temari teased. Shikamaru closed his eyes and muttered incoherent things. Temari got up from bed and looked outside the window. It was night time and everyone should be getting to sleep but there was something that didn't feel quite right with the weather. The sands were telling her that something was going to happen, something that they wouldn't like. Shikamaru opened his eyes when he noticed Temari's absence from beside him. The lazy genius walked up to her and placed a caring hand on her shoulder.

"Is something wrong?" he asked. Temari spoke to him without even turning around.

"As a kunoichi that's lived in this village all her life, I'm able to tell if there's something going on just by the passing wind. And it isn't looking all that great," she said. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"Should we go outside and check it out?" asked Hinata, also getting up from the bed. Temari turned to face her boyfriend and other friends and shook her head.

"No, I wouldn't want to ruin your evenings with problems, especially since you guys are returning to your village tomorrow," she said, her eyes filled with concern. Naruto winced and started cautiously looking around, his heightened Kyuubified senses kicking in. Before anyone noticed his serious face, his kunais appeared from his special holster and started revolving around him, like they usually did if danger was near. The kunais started vibrating.

"I know there's trouble, but either it's too far away or this individual is rather adept at masking his chakra. I can't pinpoint the exact location," he said, speaking to his kunais. Shikamaru and Hinata deadpanned. This was probably something that they would never get used to. Just then, Naruto's kunais stopped vibrating and pointed a diagonal direction going up. Naruto's eyes widened as his ocean blue orbs followed the direction that his kunais pointed. "He's been that close this whole time?!"

Growing worried, Hinata backed up and approached Naruto closely. "Uzumaki-san, what's wrong?"

Before anything else could be said, Naruto quickly wrapped his arms protectively around Hinata and took cover. "Get down!!!" he shouted as Shikamaru did the same thing. A second later, an explosion was heard as it blasted through the windows and the roof. The ceiling, after the explosion, had little strength left to hold itself together, as it crumbled down on them. Naruto threw one of his kunais above Shikamaru and Temari, as it started cutting up the falling debris. Naruto's two other kunais were doing the same thing as he and Hinata stood up.

"We have to get out of here!" Naruto shouted once more as the four shinobi jumped out of the falling building. Naruto's kunais returned to him, revolving around again. The demon vessel looked up to see a cloaked, blond-haired man flying on a large white bird. Naruto released Hinata as he darted off to the flying creature and man, who were heading for the Kazekage's tower. Hinata, Shikmaru, and Temari, immediately followed suit.

Sakura and Lee, who at the time, were doing a 1 vs 1 sparring session, heard several explosions coming from the other side of the village. They stopped their match and jumped up to higher ground in order to see what was happening. Being very far away, it was difficult to see what was happening, but whatever it was, it didn't look good. Anything that involved explosives in a peaceful village at night was never a good thing. Sakura and Lee glanced at each other and nodded as they charged to the scene. When the cloaked man and his bird reached their destination, he was about to toss another explosive when he was met with a huge sand-like fist. The assassin ceased his action and flew off with his bird. _**(A/N: I don't know how the scene played out with Deidara capturing Gaara, since I don't read the manga, but I'll make it up as it goes) **_The cloaked figure stopped to sense several other shinobi coming at him. So much for a simple capture and retrieve mission. Naruto looked up to the escaping man and formed several handseals.

"Fire style: firebomb jutsu!" he shouted as he spit out three fireballs that exploded upon impact. The cloaked man used his bird's mighty wings to blow away the jutsu. He was about to focus on the sand below him when he noticed that the attacks were still coming at him. The blond man winced. The firebomb jutsu was just a mask for the kunais underneath them. The target examined the kunais, why were they black? He avoided the kunais but found them coming back and relentlessly attacking him. If those freakish kunais weren't enough, there was still the flurry of sand shuriken being hurled at him. The blond assassin formed a handseal and allowed the sand shuriken and black kunais to hit him, as he vanished away, leaving several pieces of paper. Naruto's kunais returned to him as he saw Gaara in full shinobi attire, standing on a sand cloud.

Hinata, Shikamaru, and Temari finally caught up to the scene.

"What in the world is going on?" Shikamaru asked as Naruto turned to face him.

"I don't know for sure, but as it stands, a cloaked man was riding on a bird and was heading to Gaara's building. I arrived in time to stop him from setting an explosive by attacking him, but he used a kawarimi and vanished. I can't pinpoint his location anymore," he replied as his kunais pointed directly behind him. They all turned around to see multiple paper shurikens flying at them. Hinata stepped in and readied her stance.

"Eight trigrams: sixty four palm!" she said to herself as she spun forward and destroyed the incoming attacks. After her attack, the assassin again tried to escape when Temari pulled her fan out.

"Wind style: wind blades jutsu!" she said as she swung her fan, blades of wind coming out to attack the fleeing shinobi. The man dodged them and counter attacked with more paper shuriken. Before his attack made contact, they were caught by a wall of sand. Gaara appeared in front of them. The blond man scoffed and took to the skies, with Gaara right behind him. Naruto grabbed two of his black kunais and set them on the ground. Using his chakra, he stuck his feet on them. His kunais then levitated and joined the other two shinobi. The cloaked assassin scoffed at his luck as he saw Naruto rising up to his level. He had his arms crossed over his chest while a strange black kunai floated near him.

"Who are you, and what is your business in my village?" asked Gaara, in his usual emotionless voice.

"Well, since my cover has been blown, there's no sense in not revealing my name yeah. Name's Deidara, yeah," he said as he threw a paper bomb at Naruto. The hunter-nin didn't even move as his black kunai swatted it away. Being open, Deidara chose this opportunity to glimmer away and reappear behind the hunter-nin with a kunai aimed to pierce his throat. Naruto, who's eyes hadn't moved from their position, had already stopped the attack by catching the tip of the kunai between his two fingers.

"Leave now or I'll kill you, and it won't be like last time," said Naruto. The cloaked assassin scoffed. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"Not bad, mister hunter-nin, yeah," Deidara mocked, a little impressed at his target's quick reflexes. What impressed him the most though, was a sharp object touching the back of his neck. "Not bad at all indeed, yeah."

Deidara zipped out of the situation he was in and appeared in front of them again. He smiled at Naruto.

"Cool toys ya got there, yeah," he complimented, referring to Naruto's black kunais. "Well shoot, yeah. Didn't expect on you being here, kid, yeah. This changes everything, yeah. Tsch... so much for a simple search and retrieve mission..."

Deidara pulled something out of his pack and crumpled it in his hand, revealing several mini paper bombs. The Clay Artisan threw them at his enemies. Before they knew it, the bombs exploded midway, causing a blinding smokescreen. This instant act of surprise slightly surprised the Kazekage but wasn't too worried, knowing his sand would protect him from any sort of attack. The blond hunter-nin however, was a bit perturbed. Normally, he could sense the amount of killing intent that his foes gave off, but now, it seemed as if he wasn't giving off any killing intent. When the smokescreen cleared, Deidara was gone. Naruto turned his head to his kunai. The kunai that lay idle beside him started revolving around him for a few seconds, then it stopped and vibrated a couple of times. Naruto nodded. Deidara had escaped. The blond hunter-nin descended to the ground, followed by the Kazekage. Naruto's kunais returned to their special holster. The Shikamaru looked over to Gaara.

"Any idea as to why he was after you?" Gaara turned to face him and shook his head. Sakura and Lee finally arrived, soon after Deidara's escape.

"What happened?" Lee asked.

"That's not of any importance at the current moment," said Hinata. "That shinobi looked very professional, so I'm guessing he'll be back to finish the job, and this time with allies."

Shikamaru nodded.

"Some of us will have to stay here to help protect the Kazekage. The rest should return to Konoha and report to Hokage-sama," he said. Sakura stepped forward.

"Then I'll go," she said. Everyone turned to her. "All of you are very capable of handling things here, besides, I'm only a chuunin and probably don't have as much experience as the rest of you guys. If anything, I should be the one to go back. I don't want to slow down any of you."

"In that case, I shall go as well," said Lee. "I know you're able to handle yourself on your way back, but I feel the need to aid you in any way that I can."

Sakura was about to refuse but chose not to. He was right though. With that one attack by that mysterious person, perhaps it wasn't safe to travel alone. No matter how strong she was and how much she improved, there's no way she could take on someone who managed to not only hold their own against Gaara and Naruto but escape with his entire body still in tact. She looked over to Hinata, she was right after all. The cloaked blond man could most probably be allied with more powerful shinobi who were probably circling the area. If anything, at least one other person would need to go with them, but everyone else was needed here to help protect Sunagakure and the Kazekage, even though the red-head was fully capable of protecting himself, that much was of complete certainty. Sakura glanced at his teammates and nodded to them as she sped off, with Lee closely following right behind her.

Shikamaru turned to face Gaara.

"Kazekage-sama, as head strategist of Konoha, I highly advise you to strengthen your guards. Place shinobi all around the village, at least two or three in every key point of the village. That way, they can easily send an alert to you and the rest of your forces," Gaara nodded as he began walking back to his office. "Temari-chan, I need you to go with him. He needs you, as does the rest of this village, to help keep safety from being an issue in the future," Temari also nodded.

"But what are the rest of you going to do?" she asked, walking up to him.

"I'm not sure yet. First, we need a plan to defend this village. If I'm right, there will be more action going on when that guy comes back with re-enforcements," he said as he moved forward to kiss her in the lips. "Now go, tell Kankuro as well, wherever he is."

Temari nodded as she vanished, reappearing beside her brother. Gaara turned his head slightly to her, acknowledging her presence before turning forward, thinking deeply about Shikamaru's suggestion and any ideas of his own. He never really was the strategist type, that was more of Temari and a few of his most closest jounin shinobi. Shikamaru looked over to Naruto, who was in deep thought as well. Come to think of it, the bomb user talked about Naruto a bit, as if they knew each other. Maybe Naruto knew something that could prove useful to this operation. The lazy genius tapped him on the shoulder. Naruto turned to face him.

"I've been meaning to ask something. That guy sounded like he knew you, can you explain that?" Shikamaru asked curiously. Naruto looked away for a moment.

**xxFLASHBACKxx**

**_Naruto held the blond cloaked man by the edge of his shirt. He and his friend were ganging up on an innocent young girl that did nothing to them. He realized a while ago that she was the vessel for the two tailed demon cat, but she seemed friendly enough. His sharingan eyed friend managed to escape, but not without some injuries to take with him, courtesy of Naruto's black kunais. The hunter-nin glared at the blond man and slammed him on the ground._**

**_"Go, get out of here. Next time you do something like this, and I find you, I'll kill you..." he said. The blond man glared at him angrily for the humiliating defeat and vanished away. Naruto turned to face the younger girl behind him._**

**_"Don't worry, those bad men won't be bothering you anymore," he said as he backed away and vanished as well._**

**_xxEND OF FLASHBACKxx _ **

"As you know, his name is Deidara, but many refer to him as the Clay Artisan because of this mouth thing on one of his hands that allowed him to use paper and clay for deadly jutsus. I met him on my travels. He was partnered with another shinobi named Tobi, who had an almost completely covered face, save for a Sharingan on the right eye. They were attacking a Jinchuriiki that held the Two Tailed Neko. They were about to knock her out when I intervened. Tobi manage to escape but Deidara wasn't so fortunate. I interrogated him for information."

"At first, he wouldn't comply but after a lot of torture from my kunais and a threat to tear his arms and legs off, he told me that he worked for an organization called Akatsuki, each member being a missing-nin of several different countries. They are the only missing-nins that I wasn't able to locate in my bingo book. He also said that their plans were to locate and capture Jinchuriiki and take the bijuu inside them, resulting in their death. A bijuu is a tailed beast, similar to the Kyuubi inside me. They're collecting the bijuu's for something, of that he didn't know. I demanded that he revealed to me his leader, but that was the only thing I couldn't get out of him. I released him and told him that I would kill him if I ever saw doing what he tried to do again," said Naruto. Shikamaru and Hinata nodded in understanding. Now it wasn't just Itachi's plan that they needed to worry about. It was this Akatsuki thing and their business with the tailed beasts.

"Wanna sit down so you can think for a bit?" Naruto asked as he pulled out two of his black kunais and set them at sitting height. He motion Shikamaru to sit. The jounin was a bit hesitant at first but complied anyway, sitting on the flat ends of the kunais. To say the least, it was actually quite comfortable. Shikamaru placed his hands on his chin to ponder his next move.

---------------

Sakura and Lee continued to run through the forest. It was very dark at night and the two were urged to make camp until morning to continue but the message was fairly urgent and couldn't wait at all. They were about to move further into the forest when they heard voices around them. They stopped in motion to listen to who it was and where the voice came from. It sounded like there were multiple people but all of their voices sounded the same. Sakura winced. What if they were caught in a genjutsu and the enemy was trekking to their unconscious bodies to kill them? Sakura made the seal for the release jutsu but nothing happened. There was no genjutsu. As they continued to look around, a raven haired individual appeared in front of them, dressed in Oto-nin uniform. Lee and Sakura faced the figure and couldn't believe who it was. Just then, the two Konoha shinobi slipped into their fighting stances, ready to take on their foe.

"Aww... I'm hurt," he said. "Is that anyway to treat an old friend?"

* * *

Well, that's chapter 10. The next chapter will finally feature Sasuke and how much he's grown in the past five years and what role he plays in the story. Not sure when the next update will come in as I will be very busy with last minute Christmas shopping, gift wrapping, and overall preparations. Sigh, the Christmas party had to be in my house, didn't it...? Oh well, no use crying over spilled milk. Speaking of spilled milk, I hope my baby cousins don't spill any on my laptop like they did last year. Sheesh, I'm going to thank Santa for keeping my laptop safe. 

Odama Rasendori


	11. Chapter 11

THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN EDITED

Chapter 11

* * *

"Is that any way to treat an old friend?" the raven haired boy asked his two former comrades. Sakura and Lee examined him carefully. He wore the same uniform that Deidara wore. He also had a sword strapped semi-vertically and semi-horizontally across his back. Sakura looked at him. He had definitely grown a lot. His loose cloak uniform exposed some of his toned chest. His hair had grown longer too, way passed his chin level. His appearance was not the only thing that changed. All over his body radiated chakra, from head to toe. It felt so powerful that it could actually be seen with human eyes. The only thing about him that didn't change was his cold and dark eyes. Sasuke grinned at the two. 

"I have no intention of fighting or killing either of you, I only want Naruto," he said as the two Konoha-nin glared at him.

"You'll have to fight us for him," said Sakura. She blinked and no longer saw Sasuke. The traitor appeared behind her and was about to knock her cold with a chop to the neck, but it was blocked by Lee. The Konoha-nin backhanded Sasuke, only to see that it was a substitution. Sasuke appeared on his original location and looked at Lee with interest.

"Not bad. You were able to follow my movements," he said congratulating Lee. The taijutsu master slipped into his fighting stance.

"Sakura-chan, please return to Konoha as fast as you can. I will handle Uchiha," he said.

"No, I'm fighting him with you," she replied as Lee placed his arm across Sakura.

"No, I will give you to the time you need to reach the village. I will do my best to slow him down," he said, half ordering Sakura to do so. It took Sakura a while but she nodded and vanished in a swirl of leaves and appeared several meters behind Sasuke. Flashing through hand seals, Sasuke turned behind him and launched a fireball at Sakura. Having already jumped to the air, she had no way of defending herself. Lee appeared in front of the fireball and kicked it in half. Sasuke winced. Lee's foot didn't even look the slightest bit burned and the fireball he created was strong enough to burn human flesh instantly. The raven haired traitor grinned. Maybe this wouldn't be such a waste of time at all. Sakura looked back to Lee for a second, making sure he was alright, before increasing her speed towards Konoha. Lee slipped into his usual fighting stance.

"I do not wish to fight you either, Sasuke, but if you shall attempt to harm Sakura-san, I will have no choice," he said, glaring at Sasuke. Sasuke inwardly laughed.

"Hahaha, that's cute Lee. I only want Naruto, but if you'll get in my way, I'll kill you," he said as he flashed to Lee's face, only to block an incoming punch to the gut. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the taijutsu user. It seems as though Lee could see and predict his movements, as if able to keep up with his speed. The traitor smirked. Well that was no surprise, it came with the job as a taijutsu user after all.

"Looks like you can keep up with my speed, impressive," he said as he pulled a kunai out with his free hand and stabbed Lee in the gut, only to find that he stabbed a log. "Hmm? You can use the substitution jutsu? I guess these five years have taught you something, eh Lee?"

Lee appeared a few yards away from him, standing on a tree branch.

"When I was healed by Hokage-sama, it wasn't just my physical injuries that were healed, but my chakra network healed as well," he said as he flashed through four hand seals. "Fire style: Heavenly Flames jutsu!" he called out as he medium sized glowing fire balls erupted from his mouth. Sasuke jumped back to avoid a few but some were still coming his way.

"Fire style: Abyssal Embers jutsu!" he shouted as his flames collided with Lee's flames. Upon impact, Lee's flames made a blinding flash of light, covering the entire scenery with light. When the lights dimmed, Lee and Sasuke were duking it out in an all out fire taijutsu battle. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated, while Lee had his arms and legs engulfed in searing flames. The Uchiha was careful not to block his attacks, or they would burn through his skin. If not for his Sharingan's ability to predict enemy movements, he would have been done for. Sasuke winced once more, this was proving to be quite the hassle. It was amazing as to how Lee had gotten so powerful. Sasuke looked around him. It was also strange that the forest wasn't burning with Lee's flames.

"Fire style: Burning Palm jutsu!" said Sasuke as his fists were surrounded with blue flames. Lee's and Sasuke's fists collided, white flames trying to overpower black flames. The ground that they stood on began shaking, rubble rising to the air and crumbling to little tiny pieces, at the sheer power of their strength and flaming fists. Lee glanced into Sasuke's eyes.

"I can see in your eyes that you're amazed to see that my flames are not burning the fields. That's because I have no intention of killing you, Sasuke, I only wish to return you to Konoha so that you can repent for your sins and start a new life," he said. Sasuke laughed.

"I have no intention of returning to that rat-filled village. I have grown so much stronger since I left and I can only get stronger once I kill Naruto," he said as he pulled Lee's fists back, using his own momentum and slammed his fist into Lee's gut. The searing flames left a mark on Lee's abdomen. Ignoring the pain, Lee back-flipped and kicked Sasuke on the chin, also leaving a burning mark on his flesh. The Uchiha rubbed his chin and glared at the Green Beast of Konoha. Judging from his incredible taijutsu and ninjutsu, Lee was definitely going to be a problem, a problem that he had no time to deal with a the current moment. Sasuke's eyes widened as he witness Lee applying medical ninjutsu on his wound, effectively healing it. Sasuke scoffed. Great, he knew healing techniques too?

"You're a good sparring partner, Lee, but I don't have the time to deal with someone like you," he said as he formed a hand seal and grinned at Lee. "Don't worry though. Once I finish my business, I'll be glad to rid you of your life," he said as he vanished a gust of black flames. Lee narrowed his eyes at the spot where Sasuke was at as he allowed the flames on his arms and legs to disperse. Now that Sasuke was gone, he had two options. One, return to Naruto and tell him what happened. Two, chase after Sakura to make sure that she's ok. He thought about it for a minute until he arrived with a conclusion. Naruto could take care of himself and Sakura could too, but with Naruto's kunais constantly protecting him, Sakura was the one that needed to be protected. Lee nodded at his decision and dashed towards the direction Sakura ran off to.

---------------

(One minute ago)

Naruto and Gaara stood atop the Kazekage tower, discussing future strategies. Temari and Shikamaru was organizing the defense forces. Hinata and Kankuro took care or the citizens and non-shinobi people. After the whole incident with Deidara, many of the Sunagakure population was getting quite worried about their safety. Rumor had spread that Deidara was attempting to capture their Kazekage. Ever since Gaara was instated as Kazekage, his people started caring a great deal for him as he rebuilt Suna. Gaara increased the military and workforce to a substantial amount so as to quickly rebuild Suna's standing as one of the five shinobi villages of power. His people treated him with respect and honor, far greater than the previous Kazekage. Gaara was a very important figure to them and would gladly lay down their lives for their leader's safety. Naruto glanced at the sand Jinchuuriki. Something was troubling him.

"You alright, Gaara?" he asked. Gaara looked up to him.

"Yes, but I'm very concerned for my village."

"Don't worry. I won't let anything happen to this village," he said reassuringly and placed a hand on Gaara's shoulder. "As we speak, Haruno-san and Lee-san should be heading over to Konohagakure. Until they return with re-enforcements, my squad and I will stay here. Besides, there are plenty of great shinobi in Konoha to defend it."

"I know we are allies, Uzumaki, but why do you seem so kind to us?" Gaara asked. Naruto formed a small smile on his lips.

"You and I share the bond, blood, and burden, of a Bijuu. I consider you my brother, Gaara," he replied kindly. Gaara nodded.

As they continued to discuss their plans, Naruto's kunais appeared around him and started vibrating. Naruto stood from his stool and looked around him, trying to sense for any danger that his kunais were sensing. Gaara looked dumbfounded at him and his kunais. This was one of those things about Naruto that he knew he would never get used to seeing. The black kunais stopped vibrating and pointed behind Naruto. The blond looked over to the direction that his kunais were pointing and narrowed his eyes. That was the direction that Lee and Sakura ran towards. Either something happened with them or there was big trouble in Konoha. Naruto snatched one of his black kunais and placed it under his mouth. "Go look for Shikamaru and bring him here," he said throwing the kunai in to the air as it vanished into the wind.

"What's the matter?" asked Gaara.

"My kunais sensed something wrong in those forests up there," he said, pointing upwards. "If my kunais think it's dangerous, it's normally something worth checking out."

A minute later, Shikamaru appeared behind them with the black kunai impaled on his vest. The black kunai returned to the others.

"What is the meaning of this, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked in anger. "I was helping--"

"--Gaara with the strategies for a few minutes while I go and check something out... got it?" Naruto asked in a more demanding tone. Shikamaru sighed. Getting on Naruto's bad side would only be more troublesome for him. Shikamaru sat on Naruto's stool as he and Gaara watched the blond and his kunais vanish into the wind. Naruto jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the forest. Something was indeed bothering him, it didn't feel right. The blond hunter-nin was now feeling what his kunais were feeling earlier. Whatever they sensed, it must have been bad. He sprinted a bit and found a semi-large crater on the ground. Using his hunter-nin skills, Naruto knelt down and caressed the ground with his finger tips, removing his gloves of course. After gathering enough information, he stood and placed his gloves back on, glancing at the scenery.

"Lee was here... with..." Lee was here with Sakura that much is certain, but there was someone here with Lee, someone with incredible power. Naruto closed his eyes and tilted his head upwards and took a few sniffs into the air. His eyes shot open. "Sasuke...?"

"If Sasuke was here, that means he's after me. Heh, the prick always is," he said as he took out a scroll and a pencil from his cloak. He scribbled some writing on the paper and stuck it on one of his kunais. "Bring this to Shikamaru and come back," he said as he threw the kunais to the direction of Sunagakure.

Gaara and Shikamaru were enjoying a can of soda when the black kunai appeared and pierced through Shikamaru's can. The can flew out of the genius's hand and on the floor. Gaara and Shikamaru looked at the kunai, as it removed itself from the can and flew to Shikamaru. The pineapple head noticed a piece of paper on the tip. He took the kunai and removed the paper, and read the contents. The jounin sighed as he threw the kunai back in the air, vanishing out of sight. The Kazekage glanced at him and then the note, wondering what it stated. Shikamaru turned to him with a grim gesture on his face, as if he'd seen a whole army of shinobi soldiers.

"What's wrong, Nara-san?" he asked, though already having a clear idea of what was going on.

"Sasuke Uchiha is back and Naruto said he wants us to return to Konoha," he said. Gaara nodded. He remembered Naruto's promise to him about staying in Suna but his alligance was to his own village. Gaara wouldn't have had it in any other way. Shikamaru bowed to Gaara.

"Forgive me, Kazekage-sama, but I must find Hinata and leave immediately," he said, excusing himself as he whizzed away. Gaara looked over his village.

Shikamaru found Hinata a few minutes later and explained to her the situation, and left after kissing his girlfriend goodbye. Temari didn't want him to go but she knew that Shikamaru had his own obligations to his village. The two jounin sprinted to the direction of the village. On the way, they entered the forest again and met up with Naruto, who was sitting on a log. Naruto nodded at them as they continued onto their destination. As they sprinted back to Konoha, Naruto couldn't help but to wonder how strong Sasuke had gotten and how he, Itachi, and Kisame, had evaded his eyes for five years. His kunais kept a constant sense on what was happening around them so they could alert their master, should he not sense it first. Naruto's black kunais didn't have eyes, but they definitely surpassed the Byakugan's field of vision, and there were three of them. Naruto kept an eye for his teammates. This was turning out to be one very dangerous mission and he had no intention in losing them. During his hunter-nin missions, he was used to working alone, excluding his kunais. Now he had to make sure his teammates survived, as they did not have constant protection circling them.

After sprinting for a few minutes, Naruto's kunais vibrated for a second, then pointed in three different directions. One to his left, one to his right, and the last one pointed forward. Noticing the kunais' behavior, Hinata activated her Byakugan. She saw three figures closing in on them. Before she was able to say anything, two fireballs, and a water dragon was heading their way. The three Konoha-nin stopped running and leaped away. When they landed on solid ground, the three figures that Hinata saw earlier, appeared in front of them. It was Itachi, Kisame, and Sasuke. Naruto narrowed his eyes at one particular Uchiha who was wearing the robes of an Akatsuki shinobi. Sharingan pupils met Kyuubi-enhanced slits.

"I should have known that the Hyuuga bitch was following you, dobe," said Sasuke, making his usual smirk.

"Following two grown men around, I'd say you're the bitch, minus the manhood that you probably lost by now, eh teme?" Naruto mocked. Sasuke glared at him but decided to wave it off. There were more important matters to attend to.

"Why don't I just tell you why I'm here," said the traitor.

"Oh please do, so I can get on with my life," Naruto replied non-chalantly.

"I came to tell you to meet me at the valley of the end tomorrow night. You will fight me to the death," he challenged. Naruto scoffed.

"And what if I refuse?" he asked.

"Then I'll kill your friends one by one, starting with that blind-looking, pale bitch next to you," he said. Naruto couldn't take it anymore. Popping out in his face after five years of leaving his lunatic of a brother and the fish faced sidekick of his was one thing, but bad-mouthing his friend twice in a row, was another thing. He zipped from where he stood, to Sasuke's face, connecting his fist to the young man's face. Sasuke flew to a tree, several yards from where he stood, not expecting his former friend to move so fast. Itachi and Kisame were about to attack the demon vessel, when Naruto's kunais sensed the killing intents that the two Akatsuki members were giving off and started battling them, leaving the last black kunai beside Naruto.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke by the collar and raised him up to the tree. "Why wait for tomorrow, teme? Let's do this right now!"

The traitor swung one of his legs to the hunter-nin's face, only to have it blocked by the black kunai. Naruto pulled his arm back and aimed a punch at Sasuke's stomach, only to have it blocked by Sasuke's other leg as he brought it up to defend himself from the attack. The blond smirked. He quickly retracted his arm and punched the Uchiha in the one part of the male human body where he knew it would hurt the most. Unable to defend himself, Naruto took the advantage of jabbing him several more times in the same spot, knowing it would cause his enemy tremendous pain. After several punches, Naruto gripped the young man on the neck and slammed his body on the ground. Sasuke tried to stand, but felt his legs failing him, and the fact that it was hard to breathe only added to his pain. When he fully stood, he couldn't see the blond anywhere.

A second later, Naruto appeared in front of him and blew fire from his fingertips. Sasuke jumped in time to avoid most of the attack but cringed in pain as some of the fire burned his leg. Before he was able to ascend above, the enraged hunter-nin grabbed him on his burning ankle and brought his body to the ground once more. The blond held him down using a free arm to his chest, as he charged his other hand with a ferocious looking Rasengan. Naruto made a mental note to himself to thank the old perverted hermit for teaching him such a useful jutsu. Naruto sneered at his former friend.

"This is where you die, Uchiha. You will never harm anyone again," he eerily said as his Rasengan-enveloped fist came crashing down. The raven-haired young man closed his eyes, surprised that it was going to end this way. An inch or so before it landed on his face, however, Hinata appeared behind her him and mustered unreal strength as she stopped the blond from executing a very lethal attack.

"No Uzumaki-san!" she shouted, using all her strength to pull him back. "Remember the promise you made to Haruno-san. You must bring him back to Konoha alive. Besides, I won't let you kill him like this. We shinobi are trained to kill but not like this, not while holding a grudge. I won't let you go down to his level, I simply won't allow it!"

Naruto remembered making said promise to Sakura, before going on his five year leave to hunt down the missing-nin on his bingo book. At that time, Sakura was still fixated in finding Sasuke, which was no longer the case in the present. The blond so badly wished to tear the Uchiha, limb from limb, when he heard his friend being insulted in such a manner. But he knew that Hinata would be very disappointed. The hunter-nin glared fiercely at the traitor under him.

"Listen to your bitch, dobe," said Sasuke, doing whatever it took to save his own skin. With Hinata's words, Naruto allowed his Rasengan to die down. Hinata released her hold on him but the moment she did, Naruto quickly pulled his fist back once more and drilled it in Sasuke's sternum, effectively knocking him out. Itachi and Kisame witnessed what happened and wanted to help him out, but they were preoccupied trying to fend for their lives against the deadly black kunais. Naruto lifted the unconscious Sasuke from the ground and placed him on his shoulder. He glanced at Shikamaru, who was sitting down and staring at clouds, probably too busy and lazy to step in and join the fight. He motioned for the jounin to go to him. Shikamaru complied and vanished from where he stood and appeared next to the blond. Naruto's kunais stopped attacking the two missing-nin and returned to him.

Naruto glanced at the two battered missing-nin.

"I'm taking this pile of garbage back to the village. If you two wish to follow, you may, but I'm not responsible for what my kunais do, should you try to attack me," said Naruto. The three Konoha-nin took one last look at the Akatsuki members as they vanished in a swirl of leaves.

"Well shit that didn't go as planned," said Kisame. "We'll need your brother to kill that annoying blond pest, if you're plan is going to work."

"Yes," Itachi nodded. "We'll have to retrieve Sasuke, but not right now. We will go to Konohagakure next week and retrieve him."

Kisame nodded as he tended to the wounds that were inflicted on him by Naruto's kunais. Itachi did the same as they waited for nightfall to come.

---------------

As they sprinted, they met up with Sakura and Lee, who were literally amazed to see them catch up while they were both running at top speed. Hinata and Shikamaru looked dead tired, completely unable to keep up with their comrade's unbelievable speed. They stopped to rest at a lake. Naruto placed Sasuke on the ground and flashed through several hand seals. When he finished, he touched the former Konoha-nin on the shoulder, casting a sleeping jutsu on him, ensuring that he would not awaken until the jutsu was lifted, which could only be done by the one who casted it. Naruto pulled out a scroll and formed one hand seal as rope appeared from it. He tied Sasuke up, in case his jutsu was some how overpowered. Sakura glanced at Sasuke's unconscious form and wanted to beat him up but was stopped by Hinata, telling her that he was needed alive for interrogation. The pink chuunin complied but still had her deceptions against her former crush. Naruto looked over to Sakura.

"I've finally kept my promise to you, I've returned Sasuke," he said as he walked to the lake to freshen himself up. Sakura watched him go, guilt washing over her. She no longer wished to be with Sasuke, after all he's done. Why couldn't Naruto see this?

After another hour, the entire squad continued on their sprint to Konoha. Not much was said throughout the trip. Lee had offered to carry Sasuke, thinking that Naruto might have been tired from doing so, but Naruto politely declined every time, always saying that he had his reasons for what he was doing. Lee accepted the answer, changing his mind instantly, no longer wishing to carry the traitor. When nightfall reached them, they stopped in a clearing. Naruto laid his former companion on the floor. It was going to take a while to reach Konoha and they would need their strength for later on. Hinata walked over to Naruto. Before she could say something, the blond spoke first.

"Hyuuga-san, I'm sorry that I lost my temper back there. After he said those hurtful words to you, I just couldn't contain myself," he said. Hinata placed a hand on his shoulder and nodded in appreciation. Sakura watched as the two conversed, silently wishing that she was in Hinata's place at the moment, but such a wish couldn't happen if Naruto was unwilling to let go of the past. Sakura stood and walked over to Lee, needing someone to talk to to pass the time.

"Don't even worry about it. Uchiha-baka has become one of those people that you just learn to deal with. He has no idea what either of us are capable of and will soon see how much we have improved through the years. He still sees us as those lowly beings that he thought were weaker than him," she said. Naruto smiled and nodded.

"You're right, Hyuuga-san, I apologize for my crude actions. I just can't stand having any of my friends spoken to like that, especially from the likes of him. He has no idea what it's like to have friends, therefore, probably doesn't know how to treat any either. You're one of my closest friends, Hyuuga-sama, and I won't let him treat you like he did," said Naruto. Hinata cringed every time Naruto referred to her as a 'friend.' She so badly wanted them to have a chance together, but this was still a mission. Maybe later, when all had been said and done.

"Thank you, Uzumaki-san," sand Hinata. "But right now, we should focus on the mission ahead. We're all quite tired from all the running and should get a decent amount of sleep before continuing on. Konoha is still very far from here and we will need our strength, if we are to successfully bring Uchiha-baka back to the village without Itachi or Kisame catching up to us."

Naruto nodded as he stood and walked a bit away from his squad. Hinata walked to the rest of her squad and asked them to get some sleep. Shikamaru was already way ahead of them, sleeping on the top of a tree branch. Sakura took a spot about a yard away from Hinata, not wanting to get too close to the girl. Lee leaned on the same tree that Shikamaru slept on and instantly fell asleep. After all of his comrades were asleep, Naruto moved back to them and jumped up to a tree branch. There was a lot of planning to do and it had to be done for the duration of this mission. Capturing Sasuke and returning him to the village was something unexpected, but it might prove to be a useful thing. Naruto allowed his eyes to close, to think about what he was going to do.

* * *

Hello everyone! I'm sorry this chapter took a little longer than I thought to finish. I was helping my family with Christmas preparations and whatnot. I would have updated sooner but today was my Uncle's birthday and I didn't want to miss that, and even if I did, my parents surely wouldn't have allowed me to. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Merry belated Christmas to you all! 

Odama Rasendori


	12. IMPORTANT NOTE

Chapters 8-11 have been edited to fit the former theme of the story, NaruSaku. I have decided to lay off any affections between Naruto, Sakura, or even Hinata, until later chapters, as I have thought of new ideas for this story. The outcome will still be the same however. Again, I'm terribly sorry for what I've done with this story a month or two ago. I guess I cracked under the pressure, but I assure you all that it won't happen again. All of your reviews, thoughts, and concerns, will still be considered and looked at thoroughly though.

I will do my best to not repeat the mistakes that I have done in the past. I remembered how angered some of you were and I do plan on not letting that happen again. I can understand if none of my former readers will read this story anymore, but I would hope that some of you out there would find it in your hearts to forgive me and allow me to repent for what I've done. If so, I will do my best to make you all proud that you did give me that chance, and proud that you took the time to read this story.

Thanks,

Odama Rasendori


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13 (well, technically 12, but I want to fix the whole chapter problem, so this is how it's going to go)

* * *

Drip, drip, drip, was all the prisoner could hear. The half-unconscious prisoner opened his eyes to a very dark and dimly lit room. The only source of light in the room was a small creak that left the door in front of him, slightly open. He was about to walk out when he noticed that his ankles were bound to shackles, as well as his wrists. His neck had a chain that was strapped on to... whatever he was strapped on to. He tried to break free but found it pointless, as the chains and shackles were chakra enforced. Having his hands apart from each other, he was unable to form any hand seals that could probably get him out of the situation. The inmate sighed, he underestimated his opponent, something that his mentors had tried hard to tell him not to do. He thought that he could annihilate his enemy, but it was the other way around, except he was saved by some chick with pale eyes. They had all grown so much in his time of absence, and how had he grown? Sure he had gotten much stronger, but that blond... he had gotten even more powerful than he ever thought possible, plus, he had those meddlesome kunais. His inner thoughts were disturbed when he heard footsteps from outside. The door opened slightly, revealing more light than his eyes were used to at the moment. 

"So, how's our favorite prisoner doing?" asked a voice. If his eyes could be seen through the dark, the prisoner would have rolled them.

"Who the hell are you? And where am I?" he asked.

"You, my friend, are in no position to ask any questions," he said has he flipped the switch on the wall. The room was then covered by even more illuminating light that the prisoner had to shut his eyes to defend himself from getting blind. "Not used to the light, eh Uchiha?"

Sasuke opened his eyes to see Ibiki Morino, head of Konohagakure's interrogation unit, and someone that he had not been expecting to see yet. Naruto, who was sitting Indian style on two of his floating kunais, glared at the raven haired young man. Sasuke sighed, this was going to be a long and painful torture. Ibiki took out a clipboard with a sheet of paper attached to it. It looked like the older man was scribbling some notes while studying his physical features. Sasuke took a look at himself and he had to admit that he'd seen better days. His robe was a bit torn, he was missing one sandal, and his forehead protector was missing. After examining himself, his eyes trailed to the pair of blue orbs that he had not properly looked at in many ages. Naruto floated a bit higher to his level.

"How are you doing, teme?" he asked.

"I've been better, thanks to you, dobe," he replied with a spicy attitude. Naruto shook his head in disappointment.

"When will you learn...?" That hit a nerve in the Uchiha's body.

"Don't you dare patronize me!!" he shouted as he shot a spit aimed at Naruto's face. Without even reacting, his third kunai appeared in front of him and shielded him from the spit using the flat side of its blade. The kunai moved to Sasuke's robe and wiped the saliva on it, before revolving around Naruto.

"Well, that wasn't very nice," said Naruto as he backed away a bit. He took hold of his revolving kunais and started twirling it using the circular ring on the handle. The blond hunter-nin glanced at Ibiki, who was still writing some notes down. Having the need to kill time, Naruto brought the kunai to his mouth for a second. The blond then through the blade at the Uchiha's face. Sasuke's eyes widened as he immediately shut them, awaiting his death, but it never came. The black kunai stopped a mere centimeter from between his eyes. Ibiki noticed what happened and glanced to Naruto.

"Please don't do that to our prisoner, Uzumaki-san. We don't want him having an NDE before I've interrogated him, now do we?" he asked. Naruto shrugged as his black kunai returned to his side. Naruto took hold of it and started twirling it once more. Sasuke glared daggers at the blond.

"Fuck off, asshole!" he said. Naruto moved his eyes to him. "If you're gonna kill me, don't be hesitant and get on with it already!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," he said. "But Ibiki-san told me not to. Although I outrank him now, if I kill you, I'll have to answer to Hokage-sama and the rest of the council and I'd never hear the end of it. Hokage-sama could care less about your life, but you're our closest lead to Akatsuki."

"Uzumaki-san, will you please excuse Uchiha and myself?" Ibiki asked as he placed his clipboard away. Naruto nodded.

"Sure thing. Just call me when you finish," Naruto replied. Ibiki bowed to him slightly as he floated away on his two kunais, shutting the door behind him. Ibiki glared at Sasuke, who glared back. The interrogation unit leader formed a smile that could go head to head with Orochimaru's grin.

"Shall we get started then?"

* * *

Naruto floated his way out of the building. As he made his way down the streets of Konoha, a few people were staring at how it was possible for him to float on such overgrown kunais. Speaking of overgrown kunais, it was odd how they grew. They were now three to four times larger than regular kunais. In shorter terms, they stretched from the elbow, all the way down to the knuckles. They actually looked more like very short swords, in a sense. It was probably due to the Kyuubi's chakra inside those things that makes them grow so large. Another reason could be the strange minerals that it was created with. Having Kyuubi's chakra infused with his own along with strange materials from outer space, it was only made sense that he couldn't find a damn good reason why they kept growing. The blond looked at his surroundings and saw a bunch of people looking at him, or mostly his kunais. Naruto jumped off of his blades and decided to walk, allowing his blades to return to his special holster, which he made a mental note to enlarge, due to the size of his kunais. 

Now that Sasuke was back in the village, there wasn't much to do anymore, other than keep an eye on Itachi and Kisame. During his travels for five years, he had come across a library that contained detailed information on just about everything in the world. It also contained a legend about the Uchihas and their remarkable bloodline limit, Sharingan. A normal Uchiha would eventually unlock his or her Sharingan at some point in their lives. The amount of tomoes on each eye would represent the level of Sharingan that they currently have. But beyond the simple Sharingan was the Mangekyo Sharingan, which could only be attained by having the Uchiha killing his best friend. Naruto deduced that attaining Mangekyo Sharingan was probably the reason why Sasuke even bothered to call him a best friend. Under the Mangekyo were some very powerful jutsus.

The first one was Amaterasu, named after the Japanese deity of the black flames. Amaterasu could burn through almost anything with its powerful black flames. The second was Tsukiyomi, which was named after the Japanese deity of the moon. Tsukiyomi was a genjutsu that could show the target some very horrid images. There was a third, but it was very hazy in the blond's mind, something about the Japanese deity of the storm, what was the name... Susanoo? Well, whatever it was, those were the jutsus that were available to a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder. But that only left another question in the hunter-nin's mind, why did Itachi allow Sasuke to live when he massacred the entire Uchiha clan? The blond thought about it for a bit until his eyes turn very wide. During his time in that library, he read about a legend regarding the Mangekyo Sharingan. It stated that if a wielder of the Mangekyo, pulled out the eyes from another Mangekyo wielder, and attached it into his own, he would gain immortality. Another thing was, it had to be done with a sibling, in Itachi's case, Sasuke.

Naruto gasped in sudden realization. So that was why Itachi allowed Sasuke to live, that's why Itachi wanted Sasuke to kill his best friend, to attain Mangekyo Sharingan, only to have it pulled out of his sockets and attached to his own damn head. If those archives were right, then he would have to be very careful and not get killed by Sasuke. Just then, something else crossed his mind. What about that one time when he first met Deidara? He had a partner by the name of Tobi, who also had a single red eye with dots on his face. Could that have been a Sharingan eye? It was hard to tell, as he did not get that good of a look on the masked man's face. Naruto stopped walking in the middle of the street so he could think a bit deeper. Tobi had one red eye with dots, if anything, that should count as a Sharingan... come to think of it, so did Kakashi. For the second time in the same two minutes, Naruto hit a sudden realization. Kakashi had his Sharingan eye on the left side, and according to his memory, Tobi had his on the right. It couldn't be, could it?

"But I have to know. I have to find out," he said as he sprinted to the Konoha memorial stone. During his sprint, he caught sight of Shikamaru, Hinata, Lee, and Sakura, sparring on the team seven training grounds. Naruto simply passed them with too much in his mind. The four Konoha-nin glanced at each other and follow him. Several seconds later, they stopped to see Naruto looking over the Konoha memorial stone. Sakura walked to him.

"Uzumaki-san, what are you looking for?" she asked but received no response, as Naruto was busy looking through the names. She was about to ask again when Naruto's finger stopped on a name. The four ninjas took a glance and read the name. Obito Uchiha. Naruto looked at the name over and over again, just to satisfy what his brain was telling him.

"I knew it... so that really is him..." said Naruto. Sakura looked him in the eyes.

"Who are you talking about?" she asked. Naruto turned to her and Hinata.

"I'll tell you in a minute, but first, I need you and Hinata to find Hatake-san, and get him over here. Tell him that I sent for him," he said. Sakura was about to ask another question but placed it to the side of her mind. She nodded at Naruto's request as she vanished off, with Hinata closely behind her. Shikamaru had his hands in his pockets and glanced at the name once more. What could Naruto want with a dead Uchiha? Was he turning into some sort of grave digger, or worse? A minute later, Sakura and Hinata arrived with Kakashi. The copy-nin was reading his icha icha paradise novel. He looked at Naruto with his usual bored eyes.

"Need something, Naruto?" he asked, at the same time wondering why he was at the Konoha memorial stone. Naruto pointed at a particular name. Kakashi didn't even have to look at it as he memorized the location of the one name that he could never forget. "What about him?"

"This guy... Obito Uchiha..." he spoke. Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura, listened intently for what their friend was about to say. "When we were younger, you told us that all of your closest friends were either dead or missing, correct?"

Kakashi nodded. "But where are you going with this? And what does it have to do with Obito?"

Naruto glanced at the stone for a second, and then back at the copy-nin, who's facial expression had changed. The silver haired man was now interested. Naruto recalled the red eye that he saw from Tobi and compared it with Sasuke's and Kakashi's Sharingan. It was no doubt, a Sharingan. But if so, how did he survive? And why did he join Akatsuki? Naruto focused onto his former mentor's eyes.

"Obito Uchiha... is alive..." he stated. Kakashi's single eye shot wide open as he studied Naruto's facial features. He didn't seem like he was joking at all. The other four Konoha-nins also studied Naruto's facial features and concluded with the same results as Kakashi did. It wasn't everyday that a respected shinobi like Naruto would spit out something as outrageous as this. No way Obito could be alive. He saw him die there in front of his eyes, just after the Sharingan transfer had finished. The lower half of his body was crushed, there's no way he could have survived, and here was Naruto, disgracing the dead, especially his best friend. The blood inside Kakashi began to boil. Kakashi approached his former student and threw a fist at his face, only to have it blocked by one of Naruto's oversized kunai.

"How dare you tell me that he's alive... I saw him die in front of my face!!" shouted the man, as he retracted his fist. Naruto's kunai vanished. A single tear escaped from the only visible eye that Kakashi owned. "I can never forget that day. Half of his body was crushed by tons of debris, no one can survive from that, and here you are telling me that he's alive?! How dare you?!"

Kakashi was about to attack Naruto again, but his friends stopped him. Sakura could have done it alone with the use of her super strength, but she didn't want to cause any harm on her sensei. Naruto could only glance at his former sensei. He could only imagine the pain that Kakashi was going through, but this was a massive breakthrough. If Kakashi would cooperate, there could be a chance to reclaim his best friend. But question was, would he cooperate? After believing that his best friend was dead throughout most of his life, could he really bring it to himself to help in finding him? Could he really trust in a mere hypothesis that his best friend was alive? Even though it was just a hypothesis, Naruto was almost certain for sure that Obito was indeed Tobi. A very obvious clue was the name. If you start from the ending "o" of the name and spelled it, skipping the first "o", you would end up with the name Tobi. Second, if you started with the only "o" in Tobi and spelled it to the right, you would get O-b-i-t-o. The last "o" would have to be added. After a few minutes, Kakashi was able to calm down. If Naruto was correct, and Obito was alive, then why hadn't he returned to his home? That was only one of the hundreds of questions that Kakashi had in store for him if he did ever find him. Kakashi glanced at the memorial stone, and then back to his former student.

"Naruto, I know you just returned to the village after your mission, but would you mind accompanying me by helping me find my best friend? It would really mean a lot to me just to at least see his face after all these years," he stated. Naruto looked away. Although he got quite a good look at Tobi, he wasn't sure what his face revealed, as it was covered with cloth. One thing was certain though, the Sharingan eye on his right eye, and the Sharingan eye on Kakashi's left eye. Naruto returned his glance his former teacher.

"I'll go ahead and ask permission Hokage-sama for permission, but we'll need a team," he said as he looked over to Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura. "What do you say guys? Ready for another mission?"

They all nodded. A favor from Kakashi wasn't something that should be easily swayed. Something like this would put Kakashi in debt to them for a very long time. Although Shikamaru was a very lazy individual, he couldn't say no to the copy-nin, especially when it was regarding his best friend. Lee was able to accept, knowing that this mission might be one where he could meet powerful new opponents to test his skills on. Hinata had no reason to deny either, as long Naruto was there with them. Sakura couldn't deny it either. She owed it Kakashi for becoming the kunoichi that she was today. Even though it was Tsunade that trained her to be very powerful, it was Kakashi that taught her the basics of being a genin, and it was only right that she could repay him back somehow. Naruto nodded at Kakashi as he vanished in a swirl of leaves. Kakashi glanced at the memorial stone.

"Obito... are you really out there?" he asked himself.

Naruto zipped from one building to another, towards the Hokage tower. Though he had just returned from a mission, he didn't mind one bit going to another one. But there were a few issues in his mind. The first one was Itachi and Kisame. Those two should have arrived by now, to retrieve Sasuke, but they have yet to arrive. There were very few shinobi in the village that could go head to head with those two. He knew that he was at least able to go head on with Itachi or Kisame, but he would be leaving for the mission. Kakashi could probably hold his own against Kisame but not Itachi. Konoha twelve, or was it eleven now, could probably take them on with a bit of difficulty, but he was taking about five of them including himself, so that wouldn't be a very good idea. Ero-sennin could probably defeat them on his own, but Itachi and Kisame would find a way to take the toad sage down with them, and that was a risk that Naruto wasn't willing to take. Hokage-sama could probably do the same, but then again, the turnout would be the same with her as with Ero-sennin, so that was out of the question.

The second issue was the team. Being one of the most powerful shinobi in the village, and the one that caught a glimpse of their target's appearance, Naruto was a definite necessity for the mission. Kakashi was also very powerful and could very well take care of himself. Shikamaru is an excellent strategist, but not so great on the fighting part. Lee is a great fighter, but not so great on the strategy area. Hinata is an able kunoichi and can perform medical ninjutsu, which would be crucial for this mission. Sakura's fighting skills weren't bad at all, and she was a better medic-nin than Hinata. Naruto didn't want to take such a large team of six, in case Itachi and Kisame showed up to reclaim Sasuke. He need some of them to stay and help defend the village if such an event happened, but with Ero-sennin and Hokage-sama on the job, what could go wrong, right? They're old, but they're not your everyday couple of geezers. Perhaps they could hold off the two Akatsuki members while he left for the mission.

The third issue was Sasuke. Getting Sasuke out of the village was no easy feat, but if they did, who knows what kind of turmoil would ravage across the village with those three there? Allowing Sasuke to be rescued wasn't exactly part of the plan, as he was still needed for very vital information. If Sasuke was released, not only would they lose their source of information against their enemy, but who knows just how powerful he had gotten through these years? The only reason that he was able to capture him and keep Itachi and Kisame at bay, were because of his black kunais. But unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky as he was to possess such amazing weapons. His comrades may have gotten stronger and could possibly take the Uchiha down, but not without some injuries, or possibly even casualties, such a thing that wasn't exactly in his memo book. There had to be a way out of this. Perhaps Hokage-sama and Ero-sennin could take on Itachi and Kisame, and the rest of them would be left with Sasuke. But if Sasuke was allowed to join the Akatsuki, then he would be a whole lot of trouble for everyone. The Akatsuki aren't exactly a bunch of pushovers, and that didn't exclude Sasuke in any way.

Naruto arrived at the Hokage tower, and entered the office. He saw Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shizune, and Maito, playing a bit of poker. It took the adults a bit of time to realize who had just arrived into the picture. If it was any other shinobi, they all would have been ashamed, but it was just Naruto, so they could relax. Tsunade positioned herself properly on her chair and allowed Naruto to approach her.

"Hokage-sama, I'd like to request to leave the village," said Naruto. Tsunade cocked her eyebrows up. The council gave him the power to leave the village whenever he felt like it, so why was he asking her for permission? "I'd like to also take Hatake-san, Naru-san, Lee-san, Hyuuga-sama, and Haruno-san, with me for a mission."

"A mission? I didn't assign anything. What mission are you talking about?" she asked.

"I have reason to believe that Obito Uchiha, Hatake-san's one time best friend, is still alive," he replied. Tsunade was now confused. According to the Konoha archives, Obito Uchiha died years ago, after being crushed under a pile of rubble. But if Naruto had an idea that he was alive... well... at his age, Naruto wasn't one to joke around about situations such as these. The only issue she had was his choice for his team. Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura, were probably all exhausted from their mission earlier.

"I don't mind any of it, and I'm sure your squad will be a capable one, but why not take a different squad? Don't you think your current squad, save Kakashi, would be exhausted from the previous mission? Not everyone has a legendary tailed beast sealed inside them, fueling them with massive quantities of chakra, you know," she stated. Naruto sighed, she was right after all, but his friends did give him their approval of going into another mission.

"I understand, Hokage-sama, but they agreed to go on this mission with me," he said. Tsunade placed her hand on her chin so she could properly think about the situation.

"Alright, I'll approve the mission, but just to be fair to them, I'm giving them a two day rest. I'm also making you the squad leader for this mission. So if any of them perish during this mission, you will answer to me, understand?" she asked. Naruto nodded immediately and vanished. Tsunade shook her head at the young man.

"Kids these days, eh? Always rushing into trouble," said Jiraiya, as he started dealing the cards again. Tsunade got up from her seat and sat with her friends again.

"This one is for Kakashi, who am I to decline?" she asked. At the sound of his rival's name, Guy spoke.

"Then why not take my squad as well? If the mission will be as dangerous as it is planned to be, they'll need all the help they can get," he said, as he sorted his cards.

"That's true, Guy, but we can't forget about Sasuke," said Shizune, as she too sorted her cards. "Itachi and Kisame wouldn't let a member of their own organization be captured. Sooner or later, they will come and get him, and considering those two, they'll leave quite a number of bodies wherever they walk. We'll need as many shinobi in the village as possible, to defend the civilians."

Tsunade smiled.

"Look at the big brain on my student. Couldn't have said it better myself," she said as she laid her cards down. "Straight-flush."

Jiraiya and Guy rolled their eyes as they tossed their cards down. Tsunade glanced at her student as she laid her cards down.

"Four of a kind, ace," she said as Tsunade glared at her. "Looks like I win again."

* * *

Naruto appeared back into the Konoha memorial. Kakashi shut his book close and placed it back in his pocket. He approached Naruto. Naruto explained to them that they were going into the mission within two days time. He suggested for them to get plenty of rest, as this mission would be a very difficult one. After the mission briefings, the squad went in their separate ways, except for Kakashi, Naruto, and Sakura. Just as they too were about to take their leave, an ANBU appeared in front of them and faced Naruto. Kakashi and Sakura were quite bewildered as to what an ANBU was doing here and what possibly business he had with Naruto. Naruto returned the look and glanced at the ANBU. The ANBU approached Naruto. 

"Uzumaki-sama, Morino Ibiki-shishou requests the audience of Hatake-sama, Haruno-san, and yourself," he said. Naruto nodded.

"Return to him and tell him that I'll be there shortly," he replied. The ANBU nodded and vanished. Naruto turned to the former squad seven. It's been a long time, but the old squad was finally going to be reunited, but not exactly in the terms that they had been expecting. The blond nodded at them both and disappeared, with the copy-nin and medic-nin, hot on his trail. A few minutes later, they arrived in the interrogation building where Sasuke was being held. They entered the compound and saw Mitarashi Anko on the front desk, sorting through a bunch of documents.

"Mitarashi-san, we are here on request of Morino-sama," said Naruto. Anko grabbed a clipboard and scanned the paper attached to it. Anko nodded.

"He's in room 203 with the Uchiha," she said. Naruto nodded as they walked over to room 203. When they arrived, they saw Sasuke strapped on a metal wall with metal chains on his neck, wrists, and feet. Ibiki approached Naruto.

"It took a while, but I finally got him to talk. I'll report my findings to Hokage-sama. In the mean time, why don't you and your squad go ahead and have a nice chat with him, while he's still here?" he said.

"What do you mean 'while he's still here'? Is Sasuke going somewhere?" Naruto asked. Ibiki nodded.

"Yes, he will be transferred to a jail cell tomorrow, where he will not be allowed any visitors for a very long time," said Ibiki. Naruto nodded in understanding as Ibiki excused himself out of the room. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura, all looked at their former teammate in disgust. It had been obvious a long time ago that Sasuke wasn't saving their lives five years ago when he joined his brother and sidekick. Sasuke only seeked greater power, and made it look like he was sacrificing his life and freedom, for their lives. It was a good scheme and probably believable by some idiots, but they were no idiots. They easily saw through Sasuke like a piece of glass. Non of them wanted to speak first, having nothing much to say to the Uchiha. When the room grew too quiet, Sakura decided to say her piece. She knew that Sasuke didn't mean a word of what he said five years ago, but she wanted it to come out from the horse's mouth, and now was as good a time as any.

"Sasuke," she started. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sasuke, glanced at her. "That speech you gave to us five years ago, I need to know something. Did it come from your heart, or from your ass?"

"The latter," responded the raven haired young man. Sakura scoffed.

"I thought as much. You really had me fooled five years ago. You actually got me to break off my ties with Naruto," she said, meeting Naruto's ocean blue orbs. "Your little speech actually stirred up my feelings for you again, and you end up betraying us all."

"That's about the sum of it," he said.

"So why?" Tears began to stream from her eyes. "Does it amuse you to toy with my feelings for you and other people? What you said to me all those years ago, was powerful enough to break my bonds with Naruto. You really had me going there, Sasuke."

"If it was so easy to break you two up, just how strong was this love thing that you two had then? Did you even love the dobe here, or were you just fooling yourself and him?" Sasuke asked, raising his head to meet her jade eyes. Frankly, Naruto was quite curious about this one as well. How could such a beautiful and powerful thing between them be shattered so easily by a couple of paragraphs worth of context? Sakura glared at him.

"I loved Naruto with all my heart, but before him, I loved you too. Even though you were an asshole to everyone, myself included, I still found it in myself to see through those things. When I've finally moved on, you come back and ruin my life. What the hell is wrong with you?" Naruto looked to the floor.

'So she did love me all along eh? I guess now I understand a little bit of it,' he thought to himself.

"It tore me to pieces when I realized that you were just playing the act so you could have an excuse to join your accursed brother. You told me all of that nonsense, got me to break up with Naruto, revive my feelings for you, and for what?!" she shouted.

"You loved him? Does that mean you no longer do?" asked Sasuke. Naruto turned to Sakura, who in turn met his eyes. Ocean blue now collided with jade green. This was it, she was going to admit it and there would be no turning back. Her feelings and emotions were on the line here, but she couldn't find it in herself to care anymore. The truth was clear, and she was going for it, no matter what the consequences foretold of her future with him, or without.

"I loved him back then," she said, not releasing her eye contact with Naruto. "And I still love him today."

Naruto was taken aback.

"I've made a ton of mistakes in my lifetime, a lot of them which I am not a slight bit proud of. But falling in love with Naruto, wasn't a part of that stack of sins. Breaking up with him for you, however, was," she said as she glared at Sasuke, and returned her gaze to the blond. "Naruto was the best thing that ever happened to me. He showed me eons worth of happiness that I know that I can never receive from the likes of you, Sasuke. What I did to him is something that no one should ever experience. He was there with me all the way and I shoved it all into his face, all for you, Sasuke."

Tears were now streaming from the eyes of the pink chunin. Kakashi stepped back a bit so as to allow his former students to settle their quarrel. It was getting intense, and he didn't want to be a part of it. Naruto kept his eye contact on Sakura, unable to even allow himself to blink. There it was, all out from the horse's mouth. But they weren't kids anymore. He wasn't just going to fall in love with her again, and she had to understand that. Even though she still loved him the whole time, what she did was indeed something that no one should ever experience in their lives. It was going to take a lot of time to regain his trust, but this was a good start. Naruto glanced at the eyes of the Uchiha. It was now his turn to do some talking.

"You're a real son of a bitch, you know teme?" he stated. Sasuke simply gave his usuall 'hn.' "But you know what, I feel bad for you. You've never really had a real friend, and might never even have one. You'll never be able to experience this feeling, this bond, that I share with Haruno-san. What she did to me back then was huge, but it can be healed with time. What you did however, is something that I will never forgive. Not only did you betray our village, and use Haruno-san as a scapegoat, but you also toyed with her feelings like some animal. That's something that I can never tolerate."

"If not for you being our prisoner, I would cut you down into little tiny pieces, but I think solitude from the world will serve you best. You were a loner from the start and always wanted to depend on yourself. Well you know what? You'll have all the peace and quiet that you're aching for. I no longer consider you a friend, or even a shinobi of this village. If by some miracle, you are released from your jail cell, and the unlikely chance that you actually change your ways in there, don't come begging to me or anyone else for forgiveness. You're not worth talking to or even looking at," he said as he turn his back on the Uchiha. "Goodbye Sasuke, may you enjoy the rest of your life in solitude."

Sakura nodded as she too turned around. Naruto and Sakura walked out of the room, having nothing else to say to their former companion. Now that they were gone, it was Kakashi's turn to speak. As a matter of fact, he didn't even wish to speak to his former student. After everything that was said in this whole conversation, the copy-nin couldn't even find it in himself to spare the Uchiha a few of his own words, that he has to work so hard to get out of his mouth. Kakashi turned around to follow his students, but as he reached the doorway, Sasuke spoke to him.

"When I get out of here, and I promise you it will happen, I'll squeeze the life of both you and Sakura, right in front of Naruto, and take his life just after I take yours. And I will enjoy doing it," he said. Kakashi didn't even turn around to face him.

"If you get out of there, and I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to prevent it, not only will you not lay a hand on either Naruto or Sakura, but I'll personally see to it that the world will no longer have to fear for your existence. If you even get close to them, I'll pull your non-existent heart from your body and stuff it into your mouth."

"Oooh I'm so scared," Sasuke mocked. This time, Kakashi turned to face him.

"You shouldn't be, as that will be the last thing that I do to you. I'll torture you nice and slowly, then I'll kill you," Kakashi replied with venom in his voice. Kakashi exited the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Sasuke in the room alone to think about his current position.

* * *

xxTwo Days Laterxx 

Naruto, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Lee, Hinata, and Sakura, all met up at the Konoha gate. all of them had been briefed for the mission that lay before them. Since there was a possibility of meeting the Akatsuki in this mission, they all kept on their toes. Kakashi looked over to the horizon and saw the sun slowly rising. Naruto briefed them on their target. He informed them all that Tobi had cloth masking over his face and that he had a Sharingan eye on his right eye. Upon hearing this, Kakashi's will to find his best friend only strengthened. Team Naruto decided to follow a similar formation from their previous mission, only Kakashi and Lee were running from the sides of Shikamaru. It was going to be a plane shaped formation. They were placed there to protect Shikamaru. Although he wasn't a bad fighter at all, he still needed a bit of protection. If he died during this mission, they would be at a massive disadvantage. Shikamaru was the brains of the whole operation, and his death could not at all be tolerated.

Naruto looked over his squad.

"Well, if you're all ready to go, then let's do this thing," he said. They all nodded at him. The blond hunter-nin turned to face the road ahead of them as he took to the trees, the rest of his squad trailing very closely behind him.

* * *

Yay, there goes that chapter. Hmm, not much to say so, ja ne! 

Odama Rasendori


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

* * *

"Hurry Kisame," Itachi whispered to his comrade. The two Akatsuki members had been running through the dark forests of the fire country for the past three hours. They had decided to retrieve Sasuke at an earlier time but they were called in for a meeting by their leader. Since Sasuke was branded a traitor of Konoha, killing him wasn't a crime at all. It's not as if the older Sharingan wielder cared much for his little brother, but the death of his little brother would be a giant thorn in his plan. He had not told anyone of his plan except for Kisame. Since the mist shinobi was always tagging along with him, he figured it wouldn't hurt to tell him.

"So, what's the plan, Itachi?" asked Kisame. Itachi continued running with hundreds of thoughts circling his mind. He didn't even look at his comrade while he answered.

"We infiltrate the village, unnoticed, and by that I mean no killing," he started and heard a sigh from the shark-like man. "My intuition tells me that they're probably interrogating that kid for some information against us. That being said, he's probably being held in a very secluded place, probably under the watchful eye of Ibiki Morino. I'd say he's also being guarded by some ANBU, those can be evaded with ease. My only issue is Uzumaki."

Kisame cringed. Yeah, that blond kid was really starting to piss him off. It wasn't just those accursed kunai blades that protected him, it was that self-righteous attitude that he wanted to crush so badly. But Itachi was probably right. Naruto wouldn't just leave Sasuke guarded by some measly ANBU squad. Even that shrimp should know that Konoha's ANBU aren't all that great and could easily be thwarted by someone with the proper skills. But Naruto wasn't the first problem, it was getting in. Kisame glanced at Itachi. He must know a means of sneaking into that village without alerting anyone. Sure it was night time and they had the advantage in terms of getting inside undetected, but that could only last for so long. Konoha may be full of idiots, but idiots with eyes and ears that would eventually spot them if they even stepped on a tiny tree branch.

"Itachi, why not just incapacitate them? I don't mean kill them but just knock them out. Infiltrating the village is one thing but escaping with your brother without even alerting that blond brat would be a miracle," said Kisame. Itachi's peripheral vision told him that Kisame was a bit concerned. If the Uchiha was as much an idiot as half the ANBU force, he wouldn't have been worried. Kisame continued... "If it was just Uzumaki that we had to worry about, I'd be a little less concerned, but those kunais of his will be able to detect us for sure."

Itachi nodded, he was right after all. Damn those three floating piles of metal crap! They probably detected their presence by now, as they weren't that far away from the village. Naruto alone was a problem, his kunais were another problem, and adding the fact that he would most likely alert the entire village if he and Kisame were spotted was a very big problem as well. Itachi was known for massacring a whole clan of shinobi but not for escaping with his life against a dangerous Jinchurriki and a village of fairly talented shinobi. Forget a mere clan of them, they were now against a whole village. Itachi sighed and stopped running, Kisame did the same and looked at his partner. Itachi looked at the distance before him. Konoha was probably another few hours of travel, so maybe a new plan should be run. Itachi sat down on the tree branch and contemplated his next move.

* * *

Team Uzumaki continued to jump from tree to tree. It had been a whole three hours since they departed from the village. Hinata had her Byakkugan activated, scanning the area constantly to keep her team safe. Sensing no danger at the moment, Naruto's black kunai blades vanished some time ago. Kakashi looked onto the distance, wondering if his former student's hunch was correct. If it was, and Obito was truly alive, the copy-nin would impale him with so many questions that his brain might explode from the stress. Where had he gone? Why hadn't he returned to the village? And most importantly, if he really was alive and wanted to leave the village, why didn't he say good bye? Were they not friends? Friends don't just leave without saying good bye, so why did he? Naruto sensed the uneasiness of his former sensei. It must have been hard to put all of one's fate on a simple hunch, but there was no way he could be wrong. All of the facts were there. Tobi's name, his mask, his unwillingness to show any other part of his body, and most importantly, the location of his Sharingan eye, the opposite of where Kakashi's was located. He was about to think about it a bit more when his three kunai blades appeared, circulating him as they would if there was danger. The rest of his squad witnessed the sudden appearance of the kunais and instantly readied themselves.

"My kunais are sensing something they don't like. It's faint, but I can sense two huge chakra signals, but they're using a jutsu to conceal their chakra," said Naruto. The rest of his squad nodded. The blond narrowed his eyes. It must've been Itachi and Kisame who his kunais were sensing. Who else had chakra signals so strong that even a concealing jutsu was having a hard time containing what it should be containing? A second later, all three of Naruto's kunais pointed to his right side. Naruto glanced at his squad as they split into two separate squads. Naruto, Kakashi, and Sakura in one team. Shikamaru, Lee, and Hinata in the other team. With a flick of the hunter-nin's wrist, his teams went in separate directions.

Itachi opened his eyes and slowly looked to his sides, Kisame did the same. Kisame reached for his Samehada, Itachi pulled out several shuriken. In a sudden flash, two of Naruto's kunai blades were launched at Kisame, who parried them both with his huge sword but still continued on relentlessly attacking him. Kakashi appeared behind Itachi and stabbed him on the side, only to see a wooden log where Itachi's body used to be. Itachi appeared above Kakashi and was about to impale him with shuriken when Naruto's third kunai blade appeared and repelled every shuriken. Lee jumped out of the trees with several shadow clones, and barraged the Uchiha with a flurry of attacks. Shikamaru stood from the back and formed his shadow possession jutsu. Two shadows stretched from his form and grabbed his targets. While held captive, Hinata formed a shadow clone and performed her eight trigrams: sixty four palm jutsu on both of them. Shikamaru released his jutsu and began panting, as whatever happened to his captives happens to him. Sakura ran to his side and began applying her medical ninjutsu on him.

As Itachi and Kisame fell on their knees, the kunai blades that were attacking Kisame, returned to Naruto's side, who stepped out of the shadows. The blond hunter-nin looked at his captives. It shouldn't have been this easy to capture them. Itachi and Kisame were no match for his kunais but something was off. Naruto narrowed his eyes at them. Itachi and Kisame smirked an vanished in a puff of smoke. Naruto and his entire squad widened their eyes. Suddenly, their vision started getting hazy. Kakashi unveiled his Sharingan eye and looked around him.

"We're under a genjutsu... but how did this happen without us knowing?" Kakashi asked the squad and himself. Naruto looked at his squad and nodded. At once, they all performed the "kai" jutsu, the genjutsu was instantly dispelled. The blond looked around him. They were exactly were they were while they fought the Itachi and Kisame genjutsus'. One of Naruto's black kunais appeared before him and pointed behind him. The hunter-nin turned and caught a kunai that was heading straight for him. For the second time, Naruto's eyes widened.

"A paper bomb!" He shouted. Immediately, he grabbed one of his floating kunais, slid the other kunai through the tip of his own, and sent it to the sky. The kunai exploded a couple of seconds later. Naruto's black kunai returned to him, joining the other two in a constant protective, circling dance. The squad stood still for a few more seconds, waiting anything else to happen, until Hinata twitched her head. With her Byakkugan active, she was able to see two figures sprinting from behind them, going towards the village. Hinata quickly turned around and dashed towards them, the entire squad following suite.

"Hyuuga-san, what is it?" asked Lee. Hinata turned to her comrade.

"Itachi and Kisame are headed for the leaf village, and they're going really fast!" she exclaimed and then turned to her squad leader. "At this rate, Uzumaki-sama, we won't make it in time to help the village!"

Naruto nodded and turned to Kakashi. This was supposed to be a mission to help his former sensei to find his long lost friend. But in a split second, it turned into a rescue mission, but not just any rescue mission. The lives of many people in the leaf village depended on their success. Knowing already what his former pupil was thinking, Kakashi nodded his head. Obito could wait, it's not like he was going anywhere anyway. The Konoha-jounin looked away. His first obligation was to the safety of his village. Naruto nodded as well and grabbed two of his revolving kunai blades. He threw them forwards and jumped on them, riding on them like a surfboard, using his chakra control to plant his feet firmly on the blades.

"Hatake-san, Lee-san, you two will come with me. We must stop Itachi and Kisame at all costs," Both Konoha-jounin nodded. "The rest of you, find a different entrance to the village. Alert Tsunade-sama and every shinobi that you can find. Escort all gennin and non-shinobi citizens to safety!"

Hinata, Sakura, and Shikamaru nodded. "Understood!" They complied as they split into a different direction. Naruto looked back at his two remaining comrades, who were slightly lagging behind. He couldn't really blame them at all. His kunai blades, although larger than other kunais, moved faster than light. So of course this speed was no problem for them, even with a passenger riding atop. Naruto looked ahead of him. The village was still a long ways ahead. He assumed that they'd arrive right after Itachi and Kisame, as they weren't that far behind. The hunter-nin silently ordered his kunais to go a little faster, his worry for the village increasing. Lee and Kakashi picked up the pace as well.

"Konoha," Naruto uttered. "Hold on, I'm on my way..."

* * *

Tsunade, the seemingly young yet slightly senile Hokage, continued to stamp more and more documents. It's like every time she finished a stack, Shizune would bring in another stack. The blond Hokage had no idea what kind of sake she drank that would force her to take the job, but oh well, it brought her back home so that was enough of a reason. The village that once belonged to her grandfather, was now hers. But being in charge of an enormous village like Konoha didn't come without responsibilities, a word that she would have loved to have erased from the dictionaries of the world. The citizens and the rest of the shinobi, entrusted their lives to her capabilities, a trust that isn't bestowed upon just anyone so easily. On the day of her coronation, she made a silent pledge to herself that she would protect the very birthplace of her late brother, boyfriend, and grandfather. Tsunade sighed as she finished a stack and looked to her side, only to see another three stacks of papers to be stamped, approved, signed, or declined. Being Hokage was no walk in the park indeed. The blond stood from her seat and stretched. Suddenly, something snapped inside her mind as she looked outside the village. Something was about to happen, she could feel it, she just didn't know what was coming.

Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai, all sat at a dango shop with Iruka, Shaori, and Anko. It was quite boring when they didn't have any gennin whining at them for a mission or a sparring practice match. Of course, Anko never exactly felt such a feeling, as she was never given a gennin squad, nor did she want any. Kids weren't her cup of coffee anyway. Gai sipped his tea in silence. Ever since becoming professional shinobi, Neji, Ten-ten, and even his favorite pupil Lee, were always off on their own, doing missions and facing new challenges. It wasn't that he was worried about his students, he knew they were all perfectly capable of handling themselves, but he had actually thought of them all as his sons and daughter that he never really had. Being too busy with missions and all, they never really got the chance to have a decent chat in a while. Shaori looked at her colleague and looked down at her dango. She too missed her daughter. Ever since becoming one of the top medic-nins in the village, Sakura was needed at just about every minute of her life. Such responsibilities left no openings in her schedule to spend time with her mother. The Cherry Blossom Assassin sighed. Kids grew up so fast these days, it's so hard to keep track of them. Anko, seeing her two colleagues in the dump, decided to try and cheer things up. But before she was able to approach them, they all sensed two powerful chakra signatures coming their way.

Asuma and Kurenai nodded. They were still quite a distance away from the village but they were approaching rapidly. All jounin looked at each other and vanished either in puffs of smoke or swirls of leaves. Kurenai, Asuma, Gai, Iruka, Shaori, and Anko, reported to the Hokage's office. One by one, they appeared behind Tsunade, who was looking to the distance of her village. The blond Hokage turned to face them and smiled.

"It's good you all came as I was about to call for you," She said. Each of the jounin looked up to face her. "I suppose it's safe to assume that you sensed two very powerful chakra signatures on the way. I have reason to believe that they are Akatsuki members, as I don't know very many shinobi who possess colossal chakra like that, excluding Jinchurrikis."

"Hokage-sama," asked Iruka. "We have to escort the citizens away to safety. I predict that this is going to be a rough fight, and since Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, Shikamaru, Lee, and Hinata, went on a mission earlier, it might turn out to be quite a brawl without them."

Tsunade nodded her head. "Alright then. Iruka, Anko, and Shaori, gather all citizens, gennin and academy students, away from the village. If you can find some other chuunin who can help, then recruit them as well."

Iruka, Anko, and Shaori, nodded and vanished. Tsunade then turned her attention to Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai. "Asuma and Kurenai, I need you both to escort the council away as well. As much as I hate those old fools, they are still a part of our village. Gai, I ask you to locate Jiraiya. He's probably peeping on some women in some hot springs or something. Bring him here. After you finish with that, locate as many jounin as possible and alert them of our situation."

Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai, also nodded and vanished. Tsunade turned around once more to gaze at her currently peaceful village. In the next couple of hours, it wasn't going to be so tranquil anymore. Gai sprinted to the nearest possible hot spring, in search of Jiraiya. He was one of the few shinobi of this village that could possibly stand up against those two Akatsuki members. The green clad jounin moved as fast as his feet could carry him, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, until he arrived at one of Konoha's most famous hot springs. There, he found Jiraiya, just walking out of the place with a sad expression on his face. Gai approached the aged old sannin. Jiraiya's head perked up when he sensed Gai's chakra signature coming to him.

"Jiraiya-sama, Hokage-sama has called for you to her office. Something is about to commence in Konoha," he said.

"That old prune asked for me? What in the world did I do this time...?" he asked Gai. "Well, I'll be on my way now, Mite."

With that said, the toad sannin fazed out of sight. Gai nodded at his accomplishment and evacuated as many villagers as possible. Jiraiya appeared inside Tsunade's office and leaned on a wall with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. It's not like he didn't sense what was going on. If anything, he probably sensed it earlier than any of the others did, save maybe Tsunade of course. The old sannin sighed. And here he thought he would be able to enjoy his day, doing that one thing that he enjoyed the most... but oh well. Keeping that Uchiha kid here as a prisoner was bound to attract Itachi and Kisame's attention one time or another. Although he didn't know about their plan, there was no way he could allow those two to obtain Sasuke. If they wanted him back so badly that they would infiltrate a whole village of shinobi on broad daylight, it must be important. Tsunade turned to face her colleague.

"They're coming, Jiraiya... get ready. We can't let them take Sasuke," said Tsunade. Jiraiya nodded, not even looking at his Hokage.

* * *

Naruto, Kakashi, and Lee, continued their sprint to Konohagakure. Naruto's remaining black kunai blade appeared in front of him and pointed to his right diagonal side. The blond hunter-nin acknowledged it, turned his head slightly to face Kakashi and Lee, and nodded to them. Both Konoha jounin nodded as well and moved to the direction that Naruto's kunai blade pointed to. With Kakashi and Lee no longer following them, Naruto ordered his kunais to go faster. Whatever it was that his kunai blade sensed, it wasn't good. He didn't have the Byakkugan but he was able to sense two more chakra signatures, going towards Konohagakure, and they were fairly big ones too. Not only that, but they felt familiar. Naruto shook his head. Whoever they were, Kakashi and Lee would take care of them. The blond was completely focused with intercepting Itachi and Kisame. As he moved onwards, his black kunai pointed to his left. Something was coming from his left, but he couldn't care less. Several shuriken and kunais appeared and were about to impale him when his black kunai destroyed them all.

"Whoever you are, leave now. I'm not in the mood to fight you," said Naruto, focusing his attention to reaching Konoha. A second later, a clay bird was seen flying behind Naruto. "Deidara? What the hell are you doing here?"

"Me? Just came to play with my favorite blond friend. Besides, we have to finish what we started back in Sunagakure, ne?"

The clay artisan dropped several clay bombs at Naruto, but he evaded them all, save for one. The blond grabbed his black kunai and parried the last clay bomb to Deidara, who evaded it as well. Shit... he didn't have time for this. If Itachi and Kisame reached the village and obtain Sasuke, their only lead to Akatsuki's plans and location would be lost. Not only that but there weren't many Konoha-nin in the village that could stand up to their power, so he had to get there as soon as possible. Naruto cringed. He seriously didn't have the time to be messing around.

"Come on, Uzumaki, play with me for a while," said Deidara, as he flung more clay bombs and shurkien at Naruto, only to have them blocked and parried by his black kunai blade. Naruto pushed his kunais to go faster, but Deidara's bird was able to go a little faster too. Knowing that it would be difficult to focus where he was going with that lunatic there at his back, Naruto knew that he had no other option but to fight. Naruto slowed down and eventually stopped. He continued to levitate on his two black kunais while allowing the third one to revolve around him, in case he needed it. Deidara caught up with him in a matter of seconds. Naruto crossed his arms over his chest as he glared at the Akatsuki member. He would have to deal with him before reaching Konoha.

"Finally, Uzumaki wants to play, huh?" Deidara mocked.

"It's not like you're giving me much of a choice, you know," said Naruto. Both shinobi glared at each other. Naruto formed several handseals at a lightning fast pace. Deidara smirked and did the same. "Well, let's get this show on the road, eh Deidara?"

* * *

Kakashi and Lee continued to follow the direction that Naruto's black kunai pointed at, until they sensed two fairly powerful chakra signatures. Lee threw a kunai to his left, only to hear it clash with another kunai. Kakashi and Lee halted their movements as they turned to face two figures beside them. They both had Akatsuki robes draped on their bodies. One of them looked like a regular fellow with short pink hair. The other one had black hair and an orange swirling thing over his face with a little hole to expose the right eye. Speaking of the right eye, there was a glowing red on it. Kakashi gazed at it with his only Sharingan eye. That was him then, Tobi... or was it...

"Obito...?" Kakashi managed to let out. Tobi moved his hand to scratch his head.

"Ah... so you're Kakashi, eh?" he said. "How's life going, old chum?"

Tears fell from Kakashi's eyes. So it was him, his long lost best friend was right there, in front of his eyes. Too long had he thought that Obito was dead was and he blamed himself for it everyday. But now, Obito was one of his enemies, but that didn't mean it was too late to change him back, right? Lee moved his eyes to the silver headed jounin. Lee could probably never understand what happened to Kakashi but he knew that Kakashi's feelings might get in the way of the battle between these two Akatasuki members. Even though this guy was Obito, it didn't change the fact that they were now on opposite sides. And plus, they had a mission to get to. The safety of Konohagakure was more important than some petty thing as this... at least, it was right?

"Hatake-san, please don't let your feelings override your judgment in this battle," said Lee. Kakashi didn't even look at him. His focus was all on Obito. "I understand that he's your friend, Hatake-san, but we can't die here. We must stop Itachi and Ki--"

"I know that, Lee!" Kakashi exclaimed. Lee was slightly taken aback by Kakashi's tone. "Go and deal with that pink haired guy. Leave Obito to me." Lee nodded and glanced at other fellow. Both he and Lee vanished from sight, taking their battle elsewhere, leaving Kakashi and Obito to themselves.

"Obito... where have you been? I looked everywhere for you..." said Kakashi, tears still flowing from his eyes. Kakashi blinked once and could no longer see Obito. In a flash, Obito appeared from behind him and had a kunai ready to slit the copy-nin's throat.

"If you can defeat me, Kakashi, I might tell you," he said as he plunged his kunai on Kakashi's throat, only to have it puff away with a log in place. Kakashi appeared where Obito used to be and drew a kunai.

"I don't wish to fight you, let's just talk about this. I don't care what happened in the past... just let me talk to you, Obito," said Kakashi. Obito thought about it for a moment and threw his kunai plus some shuriken at Kakashi. The Konoha-jounin parried them all with his kunai.

"I'd rather not, Kakashi. Besides, this gives you something to look forward to if you defeat me, hm?" he said as he charged at Kakashi with two kunais, one on each hand. Kakashi drew out another kunai as well to hold on his other hand and dashed to Obito. If he had to defeat him in battle to get answers, then so be it.

* * *

"We're close, Kisame, lets pick up the pace," said Itachi.

"Right, but how long do you think Sasori, Deidara, and Tobi, will hold up against Uzumaki, Hatake, and that green clad freak?" asked Kisame, pumping more chakra on his leaps.

"I'm not sure, but they'll definitely buy us the time that we need to infiltrate Konoha and retrieve Sasuke," he replied without much emotion.

"Heh, that bratty brother of yours should feel honored that we're even doing this for him," said Kisame. Itachi nodded.

"Right, in any case, lets hurry. I know for a fact that Uzumaki will defeat Deidara and catch up to us. Tobi and Sasori should be able to hold off Kakashi and that Lee kid as well. I ordered them to kill if necessary but their main objective is to hold them off," said Itachi as he leaped from a tree branch. Kisame narrowed his eyes.

"I don't get why you won't just let them kill those fools, especially Uzumaki. Besides, why send a weak guy like Deidara to hold off Uzumaki?"

"It's not like i had much of a choice. That fool wanted to handle Uzumaki. I actually wanted him to take on Lee, but he insistent on Uzumaki. If he wants to die an early death against that hunter-nin, it's his life," said an annoyed Itachi.

Kisame could only chuckle.

"I'll never understand that clay molding fool, and I probably never will since Uzumaki might finish him off."

"Yeah, now lets move it, Kisame," said Itachi as he went even faster. Kisame nodded and followed his partner.

* * *

Yay!! I finally updated!! I hope this chapter is to your liking because I've had a severe case of writers block and the work I get from school doesn't exactly help at times. There's a lot more to come for this story. Read on you fanfiction reading people!

Odama Rasendori


End file.
